Nuix

Nuix Ltd

Company type	Public
Traded as	ASX: NXL
Industry	Software
Founded	Sydney, Australia (Incorporated 2005 (Incorporated 2005))
Founder	Tony Castagna^[1] David Sitsky^[2]
Headquarters	Sydney , Australia
Area served	79 countries^[3]
Key people	Jonathan Rubinsztein CEO^[4]
Number of employees	420 approximately^[5] (2020)
Website	nuix.com

Nuix Ltd is an Australian technology company that produces investigative analytics and intelligence software for extracting knowledge from unstructured data. The applications of the company's technology reportedly include digital forensics, financial crime, insider investigations, data privacy, data governance, eDiscovery and regulatory compliance.^[6] As of December 2020, the company's software was reportedly used by 1000 customers in 79 countries.^[3] The company has its headquarters in Sydney, Australia, with offices in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America.

History

Nuix was incorporated in 2005 with the goal to make vast quantities of unstructured data easily searchable.^[7] From 2006 to 2016, the company grew from just two developers to more than 400 employees.^[8]^[9]

In 2010 Nuix was awarded a five-year contract by the Securities and Exchange Commission.^[10] In 2014 the company was appointed an Industry Partner of the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats.^[11] In 2017, the Nuix Board of Directors appointed Rod Vawdrey to the position of Chief Executive Officer.^[12] In November 2020, the company appointed American lawyer and diplomat Jeffrey Bleich as its chairman.^[13] In December 2020, Nuix listed on the Australian Securities Exchange with an initial public offering that valued the company at A$1.8 billion.^[14]^[15] In October 2021, the Nuix Board appointed Jonathan Rubinsztein to the position of Group Chief Executive Officer.^[4]

Ownership

Nuix is a public company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: NXL). As of 2020, the largest shareholder was Macquarie Group with a shareholding of approximately 30%.^[3]

Controversy

Following the initial public offering, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) investigated "suspicious revenue forecasts" published in Nuix's prospectus.^[16] ASIC concluded its investigation into the forecasts in February 2022 and said it would take no further action.^[17] In May 2021, the company reportedly cut ties with former chairman Tony Castagna after it was revealed the Australian Federal Police were investigating alleged breaches of the Corporations Act.^[18]

In June 2021, the Australian Federal Police raided the company's office as part of an investigation "into certain individuals" for alleged insider trading.^[19] The company later announced it had terminated Stephen Doyle as CFO "by mutual agreement" and CEO Rod Vawdrey had resigned.^[19]

Technology and uses

Nuix markets software for eDiscovery, digital forensic investigation, security, intelligence, governance, risk and compliance based on the Nuix Engine. The Nuix Engine combines load balancing, fault tolerance and processing technologies to "provide insights from large volumes of unstructured, semi-structured and structured data". Several features of the Nuix Engine were granted a patent in 2011.^[20]

In 2013, Nuix provided a limited number of free software licences to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), who used Nuix to investigate the Offshore Leaks data.^[21] In 2016, Süddeutsche Zeitung and the ICIJ also used Nuix's software to analyze the "Panama Papers".^[22] Using the software, the Panama Papers investigation team made 2.6 terabytes of scanned documents text-searchable and extracted metadata that helped journalists cross-reference people, places and business entities across these documents.^[23]

Awards and recognition

In 2009, Nuix won a NSW Australian Technology Showcase (ATS) export award,^[24] and NSW Emerging Exporter Award.^[25]
In 2012, it won the Information and Communication Technology category of the Australian Export Awards.^[26]
In 2015, it won the Premier's NSW Exporter of the Year Award.^[27]
In October 2015, the company reported that it had raised more than $250,000 for Room to Read from its philanthropic product Proof Finder.^[27]
In 2016, Nuix products won Forensic Product of the Year at the Cyber Security Awards,^[28] and innovation awards at the Australian Business Awards^[29]^[30]
In October 2016, Nuix won the Macquarie Capital Technology Growth Company of the Year at the Australian Growth Company Awards^[31]

References

^ Castanga, Tony. "Nuix cuts consultancy ties with co-founder".
^ Sitsky, David. "David Sitsky - Engineering Founder & Chief Scientist at Nuix". THE ORG.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Macquarie to profit as Nuix set for $1.8 billion IPO". Sydney Morning Herald. 15 November 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Beleaguered Nuix names new CEO following June departures". ARN. 22 October 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
^ "Nuix insiders to share in $143.1m cash fortune". Australian Financial Review. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
^ "Red hot ASX IPOs that you might have missed from last week". The Motley Fool. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
^ "Nuix mandates a second bank for $1.5b float". Australian Financial Review. 4 August 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
^ "Nuix chief Eddie Sheehy dropped out of accountancy. It was the best thing he ever did". Financial Review. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
^ "IDG Connect – Nuix seeks out digital needles from haystacks". www.idgconnect.com. 28 March 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
^ "Nuix on hitting the export jackpot". zdnet.com.au. 5 March 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
^ "Nuix and ITU-IMPACT Partner in Building Capacity to Address Global Cyber Threats". 19 March 2014. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
^ "Nuix appoints new CEO". 8 May 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
^ "Nuix's noble role: making sense in a time of confusion". The Australian. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
^ "'Take the champagne and celebrate': Soaring Nuix caps off post-pandemic IPO frenzy". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
^ "ASX holds gains for fourth day of rises, massive stag profit for Nuix". The Australian. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
^ "The numbers that spelt trouble for Nuix IPO". afr.com. Australian Financial Review. 2 July 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
^ "Nuix says Australia regulator completes pre-IPO investigation". Reuters. 10 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
^ "Nuix cuts ties with former chairman Castagna". afr.com. Australian Financial Review. 28 May 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Watchdog seeks emergency travel ban on relative of terminated Nuix CFO". smh.com.au. Sydney Morning Herald. 29 June 2021.
^ "United States Patent 8,359,365". 20 August 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
^ "How ICIJ's Project Team Analyzed the Offshore Files". Retrieved 4 May 2013. NUIX of Sydney, Australia, and dtSearch of Bethesda, Md. NUIX Pty Ltd provided ICIJ with a limited number of licenses [..] free of charge
^ "The Panama Papers: Exposing the Rogue Offshore Finance Industry". Retrieved 4 April 2016.
^ Kaye, Byron (6 April 2016). "Panama Papers: Australian software firm helps join dots". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
^ "Investigation software company wins NSW technology export award". business.nsw.gov.au. 22 October 2009. Retrieved 8 September 2010.^{[dead link]}
^ "NSW Export Awards Winners". exportawards.gov.au. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
^ "2012 Australian Export Award Winners". 27 November 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Proof Finder Reaches $250,000 Milestone, Expands Functionality, Adds Mac OS and Linux Versions". 4 April 2016. Archived from the original on 23 March 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
^ "2016 winners – Cyber Security Awards". Cyber Security Awards. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
^ "ABA100 Australian Business Awards® - 2016 ABA100 Winners for Software Innovation". www.australianbusinessawards.com.au. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
^ "ABA100 Australian Business Awards® - 2016 ABA100 Winners for Technology Innovation". www.australianbusinessawards.com.au. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
^ "Australian Growth Company Awards | Deloitte Australia | Corporate Finance, Finance awards". Deloitte Australia. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.