Web Scraping Business

5 Web Scraping Business Success Stories [2024]

Pat Walls

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Updated: October 10th, 2024

In a data-driven world, a web scraping business can be an intriguing venture. Web scraping involves using automated tools to extract large amounts of data from websites efficiently.

Imagine having the ability to collect valuable data for market research, competitive analysis, or lead generation, all without the laborious manual process. By providing web scraping services, you can cater to businesses looking to harness raw data to make informed decisions.

The setup requires proficiency in programming languages like Python and an understanding of various scraping tools and frameworks. Aside from technical skills, ensuring legal compliance with each website's terms of service is crucial.

For those with a knack for technology and data, this business presents an opportunity to offer a service with ever-growing demand. Taking the plunge into web scraping can turn your technical expertise into a steady income stream, fulfilling the data needs of numerous industries.

In this list, you'll find real-world web scraping business success stories and very profitable examples of starting a web scraping business that makes money.

1. FindPeopleFast ($2.4M/year)

customer engagement and reach. Additionally, we use Google Analytics to track website analytics and optimize our performance. We are also exploring the use of email marketing tools to enhance our customer communication and retention strategies.

How much money it makes: $2.4M/year
How much did it cost to start: $56K
How many people on the team: 86

I Started A $2.4M/Year SaaS Company That Gathers People's Personal Information

Find People Fast is a Saas product that pulls out detailed information about any person including social media profiles, public records, address, pictures, property holdings, etc, generating upwards of an estimated revenue of $500,000 per month and employing a team of 60 employees since launch eight months ago.

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2. ScrapingBee ($1.5M/year)

Pierre de Wulf leveraged his experience as a data engineer and reused code from a failed startup to launch ScrapingBee in 2019, which now generates $1.5 million annually.

How much money it makes: $1.5M/year
How many people on the team: 2

How Pierre de Wulf Built ScrapingBee to $1.5 ARR in 2 Years Without VC Funding

This case study showcases how ScrapingBee, a web scraping API, was built on a shoestring budget using a mix of tools and outsourced services, achieving impressive growth through SEO content and targeted marketing strategies, with revenues averaging $125K/month, generating $1.5M/year since 2019.

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3. Scrapingdog ($264K/year)

Manthan Koolwal, founder of Scrapingdog, was inspired by the productivity and entrepreneurship culture in his hometown of Gujarat, India. After completing his B.tech degree, he learned to code and discovered the potential of web scraping. He launched Scrapingdog as an MVP, focusing on SEO and writing quality blog posts to attract customers. Since then, Scrapingdog has grown to generate $22k per month, with Manthan emphasizing the importance of SEO in growing a business.

How much money it makes: $264K/year
How much did it cost to start: $300
How many people on the team: 6

How I Bootstrapped A $264K/Year Data Scrapping API [From India]

Scrapingdog, a web scraping API founded in India by Manthan Koolwal, is making $22k per month and has increased its paid customer base by 15-18% every month, focusing on SEO and quality backlinks to attract customers and achieve a 99% success rate in web scraping.

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4. Data Excavator ($48K/year)

Vitaly, a programmer and entrepreneur, came up with the idea for Data Excavator while working on a project to create a catalog of automobile oils. Frustrated with the difficulty of obtaining data from manufacturers, he developed a prototype that could scrape information from websites using CSS selectors. The prototype proved successful, allowing him to collect the desired database in just a few hours.

How much money it makes: $48K/year
How much did it cost to start: $30K
How many people on the team: 2

How Selling Motor Oil Led Me To Create A $48K/Year Web Scraping Tool

Vitaly, a programmer and entrepreneur, accidentally created a data scraping app while working on a different startup that has since compiled energy-efficient databases of about 500,000 goods used by five large companies and many small ones, with monthly sales of over $100 million.

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5. Planit ($600/year)

Billy, a 20-year-old math student from Brisbane, Australia, came up with the idea for PlanIt after struggling to plan adventures in the physical world. Drawing on his experiences in designing cutting-edge recommender systems at venture-funded startup Atmos, he applied his knowledge to create a seamless travel search and planning experience. PlanIt has since expanded its database coverage and user growth, positioning itself as a platform for travel and lifestyle businesses to list their details and generate revenue.

How much money it makes: $600/year
How much did it cost to start: $1.5K
How many people on the team: 0

On Building A Travel Recommendations Platform

PlanIt is a travel recommendation and planning platform that has seen compelling growth in database coverage and user growth, covering every country in the world with several thousand users and a large SEO focus as well as a growing interest from travel and lifestyle businesses to list their details.

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Read by 4,743 founders