OnlyDust
OnlyDust was a Paris-based open source funding platform that distributed $18M in grants to 4,000 contributors over four years. It is pivoting via ctrlg.com to a code security verification product aimed at open source maintainers facing AI-generated code risks.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2022
- HeadquartersParis, France
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What OnlyDust does
OnlyDust was a Paris-based open source funding platform that, between its 2022 founding and a recently announced wind-down, distributed $18M in grants to 4,000 contributors over approximately four years. Grant allocation initially ran through committees and was later automated via an agent that disbursed roughly $1M per month, making OnlyDust one of the more operationally distinctive community-funding efforts in the open source ecosystem. The company's customer base comprised individual open source maintainers and contributors, with a horizontal segmentation approach and no disclosed enterprise revenue model.
The platform's defining inflection point was structural rather than commercial: maintainers increasingly rejected both incoming funds and external contributions because they could no longer distinguish human-authored code from AI-generated submissions, and a single compromised AI-generated commit to critical infrastructure carried existential risk. OnlyDust's founders — Greg and Paco (Grégoire Gambatto as the named co-founder) — concluded that the bottleneck in open source collaboration had migrated from funding to code security and provenance. They have launched ctrlg.com as a successor product focused on code verification and the ability to determine whether contributions are safe to merge, effectively pivoting the company from a community-grants model to a commercial security offering. The original OnlyDust chapter has been formally closed.
Capital structure is light: a single disclosed funding round of approximately $3.2M in September 2023, led by Fabric Ventures with Ergodic Capital, Frst, Kima Ventures, and Stake Capital Group. Headcount is reported in the 11–50 range. No patents, certifications, named enterprise customers, or disclosed pricing for ctrlg.com are present in the available data, and revenue is not publicly reported — consistent with a pre-revenue or very early commercial state for the new product.
OnlyDust firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- OnlyDust
- Website
- https://onlydust.xyz
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2022
- Operating status
- Closed
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- OnlyDust was a Paris-based open source funding platform that distributed $18M in grants to 4,000 contributors over four years. It is pivoting via ctrlg.com to a code security verification product aimed at open source maintainers facing AI-generated code risks.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
OnlyDust industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Developer Security Software
- NAICS
- Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Security Systems Services (except Locksmiths) (561621)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Grants, Funding & Budget Allocation Platforms (FSAPAHAE)
Keywords
Where OnlyDust is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Paris
- HQ country
- France
- HQ region
- Europe
Markets served
OnlyDust business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales
OnlyDust product offering
Product offeringCore offering
OnlyDust originally operated an open source funding platform that distributed $18M in grants to 4,000 contributors over four years. The company has since pivoted to ctrlg.com, a code security verification product that helps open source maintainers assess whether incoming code contributions (particularly AI-generated ones) are safe to merge into critical infrastructure.
Product overview
OnlyDust operated as an open source funding platform, distributing grants through committees and later through an automated agent. The company has now pivoted to address a new critical problem in open source: security and code verification. The original OnlyDust platform (funding/grants) and the new ctrlg.com product (code security) are the two distinct offerings - the original platform for funding is being sunset while the new ctrlg.com product represents the company's current focus on helping maintainers verify code safety amid the proliferation of AI-generated contributions.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- ctrlg.com A code security verification product for open source maintainers that helps determine whether incoming code contributions are safe to merge, specifically addressing the inability to distinguish AI-generated code from human-written code.
Quantifiable outcome
- 10x increase in output scaled without corresponding quality or security improvements
Companies that use OnlyDust
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
OnlyDust technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability2 records
OnlyDust partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators4 records
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights3 records
OnlyDust competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Snyk: Developer security platform covering SAST, SCA, and code-quality analysis. Most directly comparable incumbent to ctrlg.com's proposed code-verification use case, with far deeper enterprise distribution.
- GitHub Advanced Security: Native code-scanning and secret-detection features embedded in GitHub. Sets the default expectation for open source maintainers and represents the most formidable incumbent in commit-time code analysis.
- Semgrep: Code-analysis engine used by developers to detect insecure patterns at PR time. Comparable in delivery mechanism (developer-tooling integrated with code review) and in targeting engineering teams.
- Gitcoin: Open source funding platform using grants, quadratic funding, and (historically) crypto rails. Most directly comparable peer to OnlyDust's original grant-distribution model, including the use of automated/allocation mechanisms.
- Open Collective: Transparent funding platform for open source communities and collectives. Comparable to OnlyDust's original open source grant-distribution function with a different operational model.
Broad incumbents
- SonarQube (Sonar): Established code-quality and security platform widely used across enterprise and OSS. Competes in the same code-review-time security category with broader language and enterprise coverage.
- Veracode: Enterprise application-security platform with static and dynamic analysis. Comparable in 'is this code safe to merge' positioning, though oriented to enterprise rather than OSS.
- Checkmarx: Application-security testing suite including SAST, SCA, and IaC scanning. A traditional incumbent ctrlg.com would need to displace in enterprise code-security buying decisions.
Emerging players
- Sourcegraph: Code intelligence platform with code search, AI coding assistance, and (via Cody) AI-policy/code-context tooling. Adjacent competitor in the broader 'AI-era code trust' category ctrlg.com is targeting.
- Socket (Socket Supply): Supply-chain security tool focused on open source package risk. Comparable to ctrlg.com in targeting open source maintainer workflows and the specific threat of low-quality or compromised contributions.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
OnlyDust social profiles
Digital presenceOnlyDust financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
OnlyDust leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
OnlyDust funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
OnlyDust M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about OnlyDust
What does OnlyDust do?
OnlyDust originally operated an open source funding platform that distributed $18M in grants to 4,000 contributors over four years. The company has since pivoted to ctrlg.com, a code security verification product that helps open source maintainers assess whether incoming code contributions (particularly AI-generated ones) are safe to merge into critical infrastructure.
Is OnlyDust a public or private company?
OnlyDust is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently closed.
When was OnlyDust founded?
OnlyDust was founded in 2022. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is OnlyDust based?
OnlyDust is headquartered in Paris, France, in the Europe region.
Who are OnlyDust's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Snyk, GitHub Advanced Security, Semgrep, Gitcoin and Open Collective. Broad incumbents are SonarQube (Sonar), Veracode and Checkmarx. Emerging players are Sourcegraph and Socket (Socket Supply).
Does OnlyDust have an API?
No public API is recorded for OnlyDust.
What industry is OnlyDust in?
OnlyDust's product category is Developer Security Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAPAHAE, Grants, Funding & Budget Allocation Platforms. Its NAICS code is 81321 and its SIC code is 7372.