AI-Based Anti-Piracy and Brand Protection Company Ceartas DMCA Secures $4.5 Million Investment, Led by Earlybird Venture Capital

Ceartas DMCA, a leading provider of AI-powered brand protection and anti-piracy services for content creators and brands, has raised $4.5 million to enhance its operations, expand its scalable SaaS solutions for enterprises, and extend its global reach. This funding round drew support from lead investor Earlybird Venture Capital, a renowned VC firm dedicated to supporting European tech pioneers; Upside VC, a new distribution-focused consumer investment firm established by The Sidemen, collectively one of the largest Youtube presences in the World, with a following exceeding 20 million; and a range of high-profile angel investors.

Founded in 2021 by Dan Purcell (CEO) and Jonny Smyth (CTO), Ceartas DMCA has revolutionised brand protection with the power of AI, setting a new industry standard. Their platform adeptly de-indexes and issues legal notices for pirated content, significantly reducing that content’s visibility on Google by 98% and boasts an industry-leading success rate of 99% in overall content removal from both search engines and sources.

Ceartas DMCA’s cutting-edge platform offers an array of services crafted to address the multifaceted challenges of copyright infringement and unauthorised content distribution, including the threat of deepfakes. Protecting the valuable assets of both individual content creators and enterprise-level entertainment brands, Ceartas is quickly becoming the go-to fullstack AI-powered copyright and piracy protection platform in a new era of infringements.

Based out of Dogpatch Labs in Dublin and Berlin, and with a remote-first approach, the funding poises Ceartas for global expansion, supporting a strategic opening of a Los Angeles office. It marks a leap in the company’s mission to provide unmatched brand protection services worldwide. Alongside pivotal partnerships with platforms such as OnlyFans and Fanfix, the move solidifies Ceartas’s stature as a guardian of digital content and intellectual property.

Dan Purcell, Co-founder and CEO at Ceartas, shared: “As we navigate an era rife with advanced piracy, copyright infringements, deepfakes, and disinformation, Ceartas leads the charge in brand protection. By harnessing AI, we develop cutting-edge solutions to these complex challenges. This funding round is a nod to past achievements and a signal of trust in our vision from incredible investors.

“We’re excited to bolster our support for content creators and  expand our enterprise solutions to meet the needs of industry giants. Looking ahead, we’re optimistic about safeguarding the digital landscape against the evolving threats of digital theft, abuse, and misuse.”

This latest investment also propels Ceartas to enhance its bespoke anti-piracy solutions, catering to diverse sectors and addressing the escalating sophistication of digital threats. Leveraging advanced AI, the company conducts deep scans across digital platforms to identify and eliminate unauthorised content, including deepfakes. These efforts underscore Ceartas’s commitment to setting new standards in copyright protection and supporting the media and entertainment industry’s fight against piracy.

Andre Retterath, Partner at Earlybird Venture Capital, said: “Across media and the entertainment industry, individuals and enterprises alike are facing unprecedented piracy challenges. The nature of copyright infringement is evolving at a pace in line with the emergence of AI technologies. The threats in this new era are tangible, as seen in many recent high-profile cases.

“Training modern AI large language models (LLM) also opened the floodgates for the use and dissemination of unauthorised content. Accordingly, the demand for reliable solutions is vast. As pioneers of this space, Ceartas have developed world-leading protection services which effectively safeguard brands, and we couldn’t be prouder to back the expansion of their operations.”

Ceartas has seen explosive growth and profitability, signalling a strong market demand for its innovative services. As an alumni of the NDRC Accelerator programme, Ceartas underwent an intensive three month programme, encompassing stress testing and personalised mentorship from both the in-house NDRC team at Dogpatch Labs, and dozens of mentors, investors and experts. Ceartas received €100k investment on the NDRC’s SAFE instrument and a 1-year subscription to the startup hub.

The recent funding round also draws backing from new angels: Thomas Hesse (former President of Sony Music), Andrej Henkler (10x Founders), Michele Attisani & Niccolo Maisto (Faceit), and Ryan Morrison (Evolved Talent/Morrisson Cooper), among others from the gaming, content creation, music, and television sectors. These strategic partnerships, and Ceartas’s expanding influence within the entertainment industry, are set to further accelerate its mission to protect digital content and intellectual property on a global scale.

Along with being the first AI powered Brand Protection service in Europe to become a member of Google’s Trusted Copyright Removal Program, Ceartas now protects thousands of the world’s top content creators, establishing itself as an official safety partner of OnlyFans and the brand protection partner of Fanfix. These partnerships underscore Ceartas’s critical role in safeguarding digital content and intellectual property across key platforms in the digital economy.

Already global in its reach, this investment will allow Ceartas to further expand geographies, develop existing operations in the US, and cement its position as the industry authority on copyright and piracy protection. Moreover, Ceartas is poised to revolutionise the media enterprise space by offering unprecedented solutions tailored to the unique needs of large-scale enterprises. These groundbreaking services are designed to set new industry standards, ensuring that Ceartas remains at the forefront of copyright and piracy protection.

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