OpenRegistry SA, ” announced today in a press release, is has raised capital “from strategic investors including DomainTools (www.domaintools.com) and that DomainTools.com will be getting a seat on the Board.”
OpenRegistry provides back end platforms for many domain extensions including .Eu.
OpenRegistry is expected to be a major player as a backend provider in the for new gTLD registries.
According to the Press Release:
“These funds (Which was not disclosed) will be used to further expand the proven gTLD Registry platform already two years in development, as well as accelerate marketing to new clients at this critical time in the new gTLD process.”
“Following ICANN’s June decision to adopt the new gTLD program, many companies and communities have been seeking the right provider to help them apply for and manage their own Internet extension.”
“Armed with new capital and a stable of clients already actively working on their ICANN application thanks to the company’s “OpenMind” program, OpenRegistry SA is purposely operating well ahead of ICANN’s current gTLD timetable.”
“The OpenRegistry founders are veteran product and technology leaders who have a proven track record in building and operating registry platforms.”
“Together the team has over 20 years experience in the domain name industry.”
“Jean-Christophe Vignes, CEO, comments “From the beginning we have focused on building the most flexible registry platform, a next-generation platform, with a team that has done it before. Bringing DomainTools and other new investors on board at this time will provide invaluable insight into growing our commercial enterprise and providing world class support to our clients”
“Founded as a European company with strong roots in the Internet community, OpenRegistry provides a full-circle solution to new gTLDs applicants as well as to country code Top Level Domains operators looking to upgrade to a state-of-the-art technical solution.”
“Jan Jansen, the company’s CTO explains “thanks to our experience, we were able to start from scratch and avoid the burden of legacy. As a result, our outsourced system offers unparalleled flexibility while our popular licensed solution – which can be operated directly from the client’s infrastructure – brings maximum control and security to brand owners, at a fraction of the cost”.
“Susan Prosser, Vice-President Product & Marketing of DomainTools adds: “OpenRegistry, with its proven technology platform and deep industry experience, is uniquely positioned to create value for clients interested in launching new gTLDs. DomainTools is pleased to contribute to their success”.
It is a shame all these companies were not around in 1998.
Giving .COM a 12+ year head-start is not exactly a level playing field.
Maybe Set.Top.BoX DNS Software will emerge as a Game.Changer ?
Then all TLDs could pay the ISPs to have their domains resolved.
The whole will be greater than the parts in this case…smart, strong alliances yield outsized returns.
Which TLDs does OR provide back-end platforms for?
I think they provide the backend for .SX according to their website. While Michael wrote that they provide the .EU backend, this appears not to be correct, since that’s run by EURid.
However “OpenRegistry™ was founded by key individuals involved in the successful creation and running of the .eu and .be registries, representing over four million domain names.”.