Scrapingdog
About the Company
Scrapingdog is a web scraping tool that enables users to extract data from any website with ease. Founded by Manthan Koolwal in India, the company provides APIs that cater to various needs, including hotel rate shopping (MakCorps) and flight price comparisons (FlightAPI). These tools are targeted primarily toward travel agencies and companies in need of competitor pricing insights.
Scrapingdog has grown steadily since its inception, earning a solid reputation for providing quality data extraction solutions at a competitive price. It focuses on offering real-time data, which has attracted a growing base of paid customers.
Idea Behind Company
The idea for Scrapingdog began while Manthan was still a student at Ganpat University in Gujarat. Inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit in his surroundings, he taught himself to code and developed an interest in web scraping after a project with Manish, who worked on a Railway API. Seeing the importance of data extraction across industries, Manthan realized there was a gap in the market for an easy-to-use, scalable web scraping solution.
This experience gave him the drive to launch a tool that would meet the growing demand for data scraping services, especially for businesses needing to track competitor pricing, market trends, and more.
Creating the Company
Manthan started Scrapingdog with a minimal investment of $180 while working alone on its development. Using a tech stack that included Node.js, MongoDB, and Nginx, he built the first MVP in about five months. The initial features allowed users to scrape websites via a basic HTTP call and use geolocation proxies.
Manthan also worked on SEO strategies by writing blog posts and building backlinks to gain visibility. These efforts attracted early customers, and his first paid user was someone who upgraded from a free plan to a PRO pack after reading one of his blogs.
Launching the Business
Scrapingdog's launch wasn’t without challenges. The server struggled due to high traffic from trial users. However, through platforms like Product Hunt and Reddit, early reviews helped identify and fix issues. Manthan emphasized the importance of SEO in bringing traffic and customers to the site.
To drive growth, the company leveraged cold emailing and customer feedback. Scrapingdog remained bootstrapped, inspired by companies like Mailchimp, focusing heavily on product development and customer satisfaction rather than external funding.
Earnings
Scrapingdog’s business model has been highly successful, generating consistent growth. With a monthly revenue of $22,000, the company has seen a 12% month-over-month increase in revenue and a growing number of paid customers, with around 68% gross margins. Its focus on SEO, lead generation, and customer feedback has allowed the company to thrive, with long-term goals to hit a $500,000 annual run rate.
Today, the business operates with six employees, maintaining a strong foothold in the web scraping market.
