Nexigen Digital has today announced that as of August 2022, it is the number one provider of .au direct domain names, with one-in-four being registered and managed through either its retail channel, VentraIP, or its wholesale channel, Synergy Wholesale – beating all other accredited registrars including global brands GoDaddy and Crazy Domains, and local listed brand Webcentral (ASX:WCG).
Launched in March 2022, more than 300,000 .au direct names have been registered to date, with many more expected when all uncontested names become available on Tuesday, October 4 at 8:00AM (AEDT).
Co-founder and Co-CEO, Cheyne Jonstone said:
“We are immensely proud to be Australia’s #1 provider of this new domain name, both in domains under management and new registrations. Our entire team have done amazing work to ensure the process has been smooth and seamless for our customers, and that has clearly paid off.”
When asked, Jonstone attributed this achievement to being a local, trusted company.
“.au direct is all about being Australian. As the leading challenger brand in this space, this achievement underscores our commitment to remaining a 100% Australian-owned and operated company, with all of our team members being locals.
We are officially the home of .au – and that’s exciting”, he said.
Nexigen Digital has been announced as the new group name for Australia’s largest privately owned brands of online service providers – including VentraIP Australia, Synergy Wholesale and Zuver Hosting and Domains.
The group – which intends to add more brands to its portfolio – will progressively diversify its service offerings, streamline internal policies and processes to deliver a seamless experience, and monetise its vast library of intellectual property through a number of targeted software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings.
Mr. Cheyne Jonstone, current Executive Chairman and Mr. Angelo Giuffrida, current Chief Executive Officer, will become co-CEOs of the group, with Mr. Jonstone overseeing sales and marketing and Mr. Giuffrida focussing on operations and compliance. Mr. Daniel Foenander will remain as Chief Operating Officer, and a search is currently underway for a Financial Controller.
Improvements in customer service and experience has been a major focus of the group in the past year, with the appointment of a new Customer Service Manager, Mr. Michael Price, who has previously managed service centres for Microsoft, the Australian Government, and Aldi Australia. There has also been a significant investment in technology including a new Avaya phone system and new Dell desktops for all staff.
“Our commitment to our customers and the high level of service we provide will only strengthen as our operational synergies begin to align within our brands, and we continue to make progress with important changes such as ISO 27001 certification”, said Mr. Giuffrida.
The group services more than 300,000 Australian businesses, employs 70 local team members, and has revenues exceeding $20M annually. FY19/20 growth came in at 31% (compared to FY18/19 at 14%), with the increase attributed to COVID-19 and successful execution of highly-targeted marketing campaigns.
“Over the past twelve months we have worked to create a new identity that gives us a vehicle to explore other opportunities that have been presented to us, such as capital raising and strong interest in a public listing”, said Mr. Jonstone.
The newly-minted co-CEO’s also teased that some major announcements would be made over the next two weeks.
Welcome to 2020!
I hope that you were able to enjoy some quality time with your family and friends, and your Christmas break was fruitful.
The greatest thing about running a company like ours is that we are able to see the journey our customers take in launching their businesses. That’s from idea inception all the way through to execution (when a website or online store is launched), and it’s a privilege to be involved in that process.
The most important thing is that during the entire journey we remain approachable and continue to provide top-quality technical support through channels that our customers want — and that’s something we are focused on this year.
Additionally we are continuing to tweak our core service offerings and look forward to providing a simple and clear experience for our customers from service discovery to management.
I want to thank you for your continued support and look forward to working with you over the next year.
As always, I, along with my management team, can be contacted directly through email to info@nexigen.digital and we always love to hear your feedback and comments.
Nexigen Digital is proud to announce that CEO Angelo Giuffrida has been elected as an auDA Director.
The announcement was made by auDA today, following the completion of a selection and ballot process in accordance with the organisation’s constitution.
“Being elected as a director of auDA is a fantastic opportunity, I look forward to providing context and practical experience based on my 11+ years in the industry,” Mr Giuffrida said.
“There’s important work to be done and I’m keen to get stuck into that”
auDA’s incumbent Chair and directors are set to complete their terms at the Annual General Meeting on 14 November 2019. The new board appointees will assume their roles on 15 November 2019.
The reconstituted auDA board will consist of an appointed chair, five appointed directors and three elected directors:
Earlier this year a very small group of people got together and exercised their constitutional right to request a Special General Meeting (SGM) of the board of the .au Domain Administration Ltd (auDA), seeking to remove the Chair, the CEO, and the two female independent directors from the board.
Their motives were not always entirely synchronous and often changed depending on which member you asked, but today I am pleased to say that common sense has prevailed and this group has failed to get the support of the majority of members in either class per the constitution.
It is clear that this group now needs to step back, take a breath, and allow due process to take its course without the destabilising behaviour that has unnecessarily cost Australian domain name consumers more than $250,000 to hold the fruitless SGM. We must now also allow the board to get on with implementing the recommendations from the Australian Government’s review without further distraction.
Unfortunately, it is already apparent that this group will not take their loss with dignity, and have shifted their rhetoric to attacking accredited registrars with nonsensical claims of cartels and deplorable personal attacks against their management and staff members.
In 2016, then First Lady Michelle Obama famously said “when they go low, we go high”, and that is precisely what I intend to do. I will not sink to their level of personal attacks and racial slurs, instead, I plan to focus on my job which is representing my customers to the very best of my ability.
I hold genuine hope that these people will soon see reason, and allow a line to be drawn in the sand so that all stakeholders can move forward and embrace a new constitution based on the government recommendations and the work of the Constitutional Model Working Group (CMWG) and the Policy Review Panel (PRP).
Regards,
Cheyne Jonstone
Executive Chairman
