What Invaluement does

Invaluement is a sole proprietorship (owned by Robert K. McEwen, dba invaluement) that operates a DNS-based Block List (DNSBL) anti-spam service for B2B customers, primarily email administrators, IT professionals, and organizations running self-hosted mail servers. The company began in 1996 as PowerView Systems (web hosting/design and software development), pivoted to spam filtering in 2004, and launched its three core anti-spam lists — ivmURI (domain/URI-based), ivmSIP (individual IP-based), and ivmSIP/24 (CIDR /24 IP range-based) — in 2007. These lists are positioned as a complement to existing spam filters, specifically targeting the elusive spam that bypasses other DNSBLs (notably Spamhaus) while maintaining industry-leading low false positive rates, an effectiveness claim endorsed by the CBL DNSBL.

Name

Invaluement

Legal name

Robert K. McEwen, dba invaluement

Website

https://invaluement.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Invaluement is a DNSBL anti-spam service offering three proprietary blocklists (ivmURI, ivmSIP, ivmSIP/24) for email administrators and organizations running self-hosted mail servers. The subscription-based service delivers threat data globally via 76 servers across 38 cities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Email Security / Anti-Spam (DNSBL)

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

DNS Security & Protective DNS (HDADABAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Email Authentication & Domain Protection (DMARC/SPF/DKIM) (HDADAKAC), DNS, Anycast & Traffic Steering (GSLB, Geo-routing) (HDABAGAE)

Keywords

• DNSBL anti-spam service
• Email security filtering
• Spam blocklist data
• IP reputation filtering
• Domain blacklist service

Headquarters

HQ city

Hickory

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Subscription Access (Direct Query or RSYNC): Recurring subscription based on the number of mailboxes protected. Direct Query Access is more economical for users with fewer than 5,000 mailboxes, while RSYNC Access is more economical for 5,000+ mailboxes. Annual billing is standard with quarterly PayPal option available at approximately 10% premium. Free 7-day trial is offered before subscription commitment.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Invaluement sells subscription access to three proprietary DNSBL (DNS-based Block List) anti-spam feeds—ivmURI for domains/URIs, ivmSIP for individual IPs, and ivmSIP/24 for /24 subnet ranges—that integrate as an add-on into customers' existing spam filtering systems. The data is delivered either through Direct Query (DNS lookups, ideal for under 5,000 mailboxes) or via RSYNC to RBLDNSD-formatted files (required for 5,000+ mailboxes and for vendors of distributed anti-spam solutions), with global low-latency served from 76 servers in 38 cities.

Product overview

Invaluement is a DNS-based Anti-Spam List (DNSBL) service provider offering three anti-spam lists as an add-on to existing email spam filtering systems. The product portfolio consists of: ivmURI (a URI/domain anti-spam list), ivmSIP (IP-based anti-spam list), and ivmSIP/24 (IP/24 subnet-based list). These can be used individually or combined. Access is provided via Direct Query (simple host name configuration in spam filters) or RSYNC to RBLDNSD-formatted files (for high-volume environments). The service targets email administrators and spam filtering systems, blocking elusive spams that slip past other filters while maintaining extremely low false positive rates.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ivmURI: URI/Domain anti-spam DNSBL list that blocks elusive spams by analyzing domain/URI content in emails.
• ivmSIP
• ivmSIP/24

Products and services

• ivmURI DNSBL URI/domain-based DNSBL that blocks spam by identifying malicious domains and URLs in email content; targets elusive spam before those domains are listed elsewhere while maintaining an industry-leading low false positive rate.
• ivmSIP DNSBL IP-based DNSBL that identifies and blocks individual IP addresses of known spammers; when combined with ivmSIP/24 it blocks more spam missed by Spamhaus than any other DNSBL except those with significantly higher false positives.
• ivmSIP/24 DNSBL /24 CIDR subnet-based DNSBL that blocks spam by identifying entire IP subnets associated with spam sending; designed to work in combination with ivmSIP for broader coverage.
• Direct Query Access Subscription access method where customers configure their spam filter to query Invaluement's DNS servers directly; takes only a few minutes to implement, requires no hardware or software installation, and is the economical tier for deployments under 5,000 mailboxes.
• RSYNC Access to RBLDNSD-formatted Files High-volume access method where customers sync RBLDNSD-formatted zone files via RSYNC to a local rbldnsd DNS server, enabling thousands of queries per second; economical for 5,000+ mailbox deployments and required for vendors of distributed anti-spam software or hardware solutions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Blocks more spam missed by Spamhaus than any other DNSBL, except those with significantly higher false positives
• +4 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• SpamAssassin (Apache Foundation): Open-source spam filtering framework widely deployed by self-hosted mail operators—a core integration target for Invaluement's DNSBL data. Comparable through its plug-in model, though SpamAssassin provides the filter whereas Invaluement provides the data feeds the filter queries.
• MailChannels: Cloud-native email security and delivery platform that includes outbound spam filtering and reputation management for ESPs and hosting providers. Overlaps with Invaluement's ESP-facing RSYNC access tier, particularly for customer vetting and outbound reputation use cases.
• AbuseIPDB: Community-driven IP reputation database offering API and DNSBL access for blocking malicious IPs. Comparable as a complementary IP reputation feed for mail servers, though broader in scope (covers abuse beyond spam) and API-first in distribution—contrasting with Invaluement's DNS-query and file-sync model.

Broad incumbents

• Proofpoint: Enterprise email security leader that operates proprietary reputation lists (formerly used PBL, SBL, XBL from Return Path/Permerror) as part of its broader gateway and Email Fraud Defense offerings. Comparable as a competing source of email reputation intelligence at enterprise scale.
• Cisco Talos Intelligence: Operates one of the largest threat intelligence and email reputation feeds in the industry, embedded across Cisco's security portfolio. Overlaps with Invaluement on IP and domain reputation data for spam filtering, but ships within a much broader platform (IronPort, Secure Email Gateway) rather than as a standalone DNSBL.
• Barracuda Networks: Email security vendor (Essence, Sentinel) that incorporates reputation-based filtering including DNSBL integration. While Barracuda's primary business is full-stack email security, it overlaps with Invaluement in IP/domain reputation feeds consumed by spam filters protecting self-hosted and hybrid mail environments.

Direct peers

• SURBL: Long-standing URI/domain-based reputation blocklist for spam detection—the same category as Invaluement's ivmURI list. Both compete in the URI-DNSBL segment and serve overlapping email administrator audiences through similar self-service subscription models.
• URIBL: Another established URI-based DNSBL offering real-time URL reputation data to mail servers. Directly comparable to ivmURI on data type, delivery mechanism (DNS queries), and target customer (mail administrators integrating reputation lists into spam filters).
• Spamhaus: The de facto industry standard DNSBL provider and the only operator Invaluement explicitly benchmarks against. Both publish IP- and domain-based blocklists consumed by spam filters and mail servers worldwide; Invaluement's entire value proposition is 'blocks more spam missed by Spamhaus'.

Others

• MXToolbox: Network diagnostics and email lookup platform named in Invaluement's own materials as a similar service offering ('DNSBL lookup form operators similar to multi.valli.org or mxtoolbox.com'). Compared as an ecosystem participant rather than direct DNSBL competitor—it consumes third-party DNSBL data to surface results to administrators.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Invaluement