Nginx

Founded by Rambler Chief Sysadmin Igor Sysoev in 2002, the Nginx web server development project is distributed under an open BSD license. In 2011, Sysoev founded Nginx, which monetizes development through the provision of paid services. The developer is based in Moscow and has an office in San Francisco.

History

2022

Nginx immigrants created the Web Server company in Russia

As it became known on October 27, 2022, immigrants from Nginx created a Russia new company and invested $1 million in it. We are talking To Moscow about a registered in Web-Server LLC with an authorized capital of 500 thousand. rubles The main activity of the company is development. software The company applied for an Angie trademark on October 10, 2022. More. here

Nginx co-founder Igor Sysoev left the company

On January 18, 2022, it became known that Igor Sysoev, co-founder and chief developer of Nginx, left the company to focus on his own projects and spend more time with his family. This was reported on the Nginx website. Read more here.

2021: Lynwood's dissatisfaction with US claim against Nginx

As it became known in early April 2021, the California court left without consideration the claim of Lynwood Investments, associated with Alexander Mamut, against the owner of Nginx and F5 Networks, the founders of Nginx Igor Sysoev and Maxim Konovalov, as well as investing in Runa Capital and E.Ventures.

According to Kommersant, Lynwood claimed the company's rights to Nginx products and claimed that Sysoev and Konovalov "stole Nginx from Rambler," where they worked at the time of the creation of the web server. The plaintiff estimated his losses at $750 million.

The court rejected Lynwood's claims on several grounds at once, lawyers interviewed by the publication say. The court called the violations "untimely" since they occurred in 2011, says Pen & Paper Special Counsel Sergei Glandin. In addition, the court found the fraud charges insufficiently substantiated by American law standards.

A Lynwood spokesman told the paper that the company would continue to press its case, especially as the court found American jurisdiction over the claims to be correct. The company added that "there are still a number of claims filed in the framework of the same case and in the same court, which are not covered at this stage in an interim decision." Lynwood also claims that the lawsuit has not yet made a final decision.

The judge only talks about the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit, without affecting at this stage the assessment of the plaintiff's position on the merits, in which the plaintiff is absolutely sure, the company said.

The publication of Kommersant says that Lynwood has 30 days to supplement the requirements. The plaintiff can also re-appeal to the court or appeal the current decision in a higher instance, adds the head of the direction "Resolution of IT&IP disputes" "Rustam Kurmaev and Partners" Yaroslav Shitsle. In practice, the plaintiffs rarely bring something to the statements, says Dmitry Magonya, managing partner of Art De Lex.^[1]

2020

Nginx rights case dropped for lack of corpus delicti

Moscow police investigators decided to terminate the criminal case on the rights to Nginx software (software) created by Rambler employees, according to the response of the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation to the request of State Duma deputy Vladimir Sysoev.

"Based on the results of the investigation and taking into account the evidence collected, a decision was made to terminate the criminal case for the absence of a crime event," the Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a response to which the Interfax correspondent got acquainted.

"The legality and validity of this decision are checked by the supervisory prosecutor's office," the ministry said.

Lawsuit from Lynwood Investments for $750 million

On June 9, 2020, the Cypriot company Lynwood Investments, associated with co-owner RamblerAlexander Mamut, announced the filing of a lawsuit against F5 Networks, the founders of Nginx and several other former Rambler employees. The plaintiff demands to recognize him as the legal owner of the Nginx business and the rights to the commercial Nginx Plus software, in particular. The requirements do not apply to open products.

Among the defendants in the lawsuit filed in the District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco are Nginx founders Maxim Konovalov, Igor Sysoev and Andrei Alekseev, venture capital companies Runa Capital and EVentures (were Nginx investors at the initial stage), former Rambler employees Maxim Dunin and Gleb Smirnov, former top manager of Nginx Angus Robertson (Angus Robertson). Lynwood is seeking damages of at least $750 million.

The press release claims that Lynwood and its affiliates owned substantial stakes in Rambler, which transferred the rights to Nginx software and its associated Nginx business to Lynwood. This software is used by June 9, 2020 in the work of about 450 million websites around the world.

The underlying facts behind the lawsuit came to light after a U.S. whistleblower disclosed misconduct in 2019, according to Lynwood's complaint. The company then conducted its own extensive investigation and obtained evidence that former Rambler employees, together with third parties, organized an operation to assign Nginx and related rights and their subsequent monetization. Lynwood statement of claim

Lynwood notes that the company received documented testimony from people directly involved in the misappropriation of Nginx, which became the basis of the subsequent investigation.^[2]

Prosecutor General's Office: proceedings against nginx were carried out with violations

At the end of April 2020, it became known that the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation saw violations in the proceedings in the case initiated by the Rambler Group against nginx.

This is stated in a letter from Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Grin in response to a request from Andrei Svintsov, Deputy Head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications , Vedomosti writes with reference to this document. The letter was also received by the co-founder of nginx Igor Sysoev, the newspaper reports, referring to his lawyer Zhanna Rapoport.

The letter of the Prosecutor General's Office indicates that Igor Sysoev's arguments about violations of the law during pre-trial proceedings were confirmed. According to the newspaper, in this regard, the department instructed the prosecutor Moscow to take measures to eliminate violations, as well as raise the question of dismissing the case before the investigators.

According to another lawyer of the founders of Nginx, senior partner of the ZKS Law Office, Andrei Grivtsov, the order of the Prosecutor General's Office, the Rambler petition and the fact that the position of the defense was confirmed could contribute to the termination of the case. There are no complaints about the work of the investigation, he noted.

Zhanna Rapoport told the newspaper that by the end of April 2020, nginx co-founders Igor Sysoev and Maxim Konovalov are in the case as witnesses and the case itself is being conducted against unidentified persons. During the proceedings, nginx employees, former Rambler employees and people with whom Sysoev interacted in the development of a web server were questioned.

According to experts interviewed by Vedomosti, investigators can appeal the demand of the Prosecutor General's Office or formally fulfill it, which will not lead to the termination of the case. However, the lawyer of the founders of nginx, Andrei Grivtsov, expressed the hope that this will still happen.^[3]

Rambler drops criminal case against nginx

On April 24, 2020, Rambler Group announced the termination of the criminal case against nginx. The holding sent a corresponding petition to law enforcement agencies. He also asked to be removed from the list of victims.

In addition, the agreement with Lynwood Investments CY Ltd of 2015, according to which Lynwood Investments CY Ltd (formerly A&NN Holdings, at that time a shareholder of the Rambler group) acted on behalf of Rambler Group after negotiations was terminated. Under the terms of the termination, Lynwood Investments CY Ltd retained the right to prove damages and compensation in this case on its own behalf and in its own interest, but is not entitled to do any business on behalf of Rambler Group.

Lynwood Investments CY  Ltd.RBC reported that now the Cypriot company is the sole holder of the rights of claim against the founders of nginx and their affiliates:

Following negotiations between Rambler and Lynwood, the latter became the sole holder of claims rights and will continue to defend its legitimate interests in all jurisdictions in the manner prescribed by law.

The company stressed that "this is not about an attempt on the" open code, "as the townspeople who are not familiar with the details of the case have repeatedly stated, but about the requirement for compensation for damage to former employees and managers of the company and their affiliates by the victims."

If there is an economic dispute with nginx and its employees, it is entrusted to resolve it within the framework of civil law mechanisms.

Investigative actions in the nginx case have not been carried out for a long time and in the absence of the victim, it should be closed: if this does not happen, it will happen,  a law   enforcement source told Vedomosti.^[4]

2019

Herman Gref meets with Nginx founders

On December 23, 2019, it became known that German Gref met with the founders of Nginx Maxim Konovalov and Igor Sysoev. Following this meeting, the head of Sberbank expressed hope for a settlement of the conflict between the IT company and Rambler without trial.

I believe that it was possible and necessary, if there were claims, to resolve them first through negotiations, and if they had not agreed, then in a civil court. But not with the help of law enforcement agencies... The guys are great well done for growing such a company. We ourselves are users of their service. I am annoyed that this happened, - he told the TV channel "Russia 24."

According to Gref, Rambler did not notify Sberbank of any claims against Nginx, although it had to do so during the sale of its shares (the state bank owns 46.5% in Rambler Group).

When we acquired Rambler, this situation was not declared as conflict, although under the terms of due diligence they were obliged to declare all such things, he said.

The head of Sberbank claims that he learned about the incident only the day after the searches in the offices of Nginx in a criminal case and immediately intervened in the situation.

Legally, the situation has not yet been resolved to the end, but I spoke with the founders of the service. I hope we will find a solution without going to the courts, "he said.

On December 17, 2019, the first deputy chairman of the board of Sberbank, Lev Khasis, said that the bank has the right to go to court due to the failure of Rambler to provide complete information about conflicts and disputes. At the initiative of Sberbank, Rambler held an extraordinary board of directors. Following the meeting, the council instructed the company's management to ask to close the criminal case.

Top managers of Yandex and Mail.ru Group spoke out in support of Nginx and against resolving the dispute through a criminal case.^[5]

Rambler decides to close criminal case against Nginx

On December 16, 2019, Rambler Group issued a press release stating that the company's board of directors instructed managers to contact law enforcement agencies with a request to terminate the criminal case on violation of the rights of the Internet holding to develop Nginx.

The corresponding decision was made unanimously at an extraordinary meeting. At the same time, the board of directors proposed to continue the proceedings "if it is necessary to ensure the protection of the interests of the company within the civil law field."

To do this, Rambler should consult with F5 Networks, which acquired Nginx in the spring of 2019, and the human resources committee should consider the actions of Rambler officials in matters of interaction with the board of directors.

Rambler intends to terminate the contract with the Cypriot company Lynwood Investments CY, which was previously granted the right to make claims and claims. Lynwood is also recommended to withdraw its application to law enforcement agencies regarding the founders of Nginx.

Rambler said in a statement following a review of the circumstances of the conflict over Nginx that Sberbank was not aware of actions related to contacting law enforcement agencies about a possible violation of the rights to Nginx.

Sberbank has owned 46.5% of Rambler since August 2019. In its agreement with Rambler, the state bank received guarantees that Rambler's intellectual rights were not violated by third parties, and there were no grounds for litigation.

In part of the situation with Nginx, these guarantees were violated, - indicated in the Rambler message.

The decision does not bode well for Nginx, says Roman Yankovsky, adviser to the Tomashevskaya & Partners law firm. Rambler did not abandon the idea of ​ ​ suing the right to the program, but decided to transfer the case to a civil plane, he said in a conversation with RBC.^[6]

Searches of the founders' house at the initiative of Rambler

On December 13, 2019, it became known about the searches that took place at the houses of the founders of  Nginx Igor Sysoev and Maxim Konovalov. Read more here.

Rambler claims Nginx

The Moscow office of the Nginx faith server development company was searched in December 2019, according to the Vc.ru^[7]portal^[8]with reference to the general director of the hosting provider Diphost Philip Kulin. According to the portal Habr.com^[9]investigative actions are being carried out in the framework of a criminal case initiated in connection with the Rambler complaint .

Rambler RBC confirmed that they consider their rights violated.

"We believe that the rights to Nginx belong to Rambler Internet Holding, part of the Rambler Group. Nginx is an official work, the development of which since the beginning of the 2000s, as part of labor relations with Rambler, has been carried out by Sysoev Igor, so any use of this program without the consent of Rambler Group is a violation of the exclusive right, "the company's press service said.

Rambler said that after an internal audit, a decision was made to contact law enforcement agencies. At the same time, Lynwood Investments CY Ltd acted as the applicant.

How F5 Networks changed after buying Russian Nginx

On September 11, 2019, F5 Networks spoke about the changes in the company four months after the closure of the acquisition of the Russian Nginx. Read more here.

F5 Networks completes Nginx acquisition

On May 10, 2019, it became known about the completion of the transaction on the acquisition by American the developer of systems for IT infrastructures enterprises F5 Networks of the company Nginx, the developer of the same open web-origin servers Russian.

Nginx officially became part of F5 Networks and will be transformed into a separate business unit, headed by now former Nginx CEO Gus Robertson. The founders of the absorbed company - Igor Sysoev and Maxim Konovalov - will continue to work on the project as part of F5, and the products of the created division will be distributed under the previous brands.

According to Robertson, published on the Nginx blog, F5 is going to integrate Nginx technologies with its own developments, as a result of which new products under the F5 brand can enter the market. In addition, the combined company will continue to develop the open project Nginx and support the community formed around it. In particular, it is planned to speed up the development of the Nginx Controller, for which F5 engineers will be involved.^[10]

375.4 million websites run by Nginx

According to Netcraft, as of March 2019, 25.68% (375.4 million) of Internet sites are run by Nginx. According to this indicator, the solution is second only to Apache with a share of 27.61% and Microsoft with 26.06%.

The official website of the project says that Yandex, Mail.ru, VKontakte, Rambler, Netflix, Dropbox and other well-known companies use Nginx tools.

F5 Networks bought Nginx for $670 million

On March 11, 2019, F5 Networks announced the acquisition of Nginx to merge NetOps and DevOps and provide customers with consistent application services across all environments. The transaction value is $670 million.

The companies agreed that after the sale, the Nginx brand will remain on the market, and the head of the company, Gus Robertson, together with its founders Igor Sysoev and Maxim Konovalov, will move to F5 Networks and continue to manage Nginx as part of the new owner.

F5 Networks considers the purchase of Nginx to be strategically important. F5 Networks services will support multi-cloud applications and will provide simplicity and security for using corporate network operations, the press release said.

The combined company will allow any client, from an application developer to a security specialist, to get the necessary tools to distribute and protect applications on any platform, from corporate data centers to private clouds, said Francois Loko-Don, CEO of F5 Networks.

Since the founding of Nginx until March 2019, the company has received a total of $103 million from investors. The startup offers an open source web server used by more than 374 million sites, including Yandex, Mail.ru Group, VKontakte, Netflix, Starbucks and McDonald's.^[11]

According to CRN, F5 Networks leads the market for network load balancers with a share of more than 50% and offers other application delivery components to speed up applications, access control and security.

We can blame NetOps, and customers can choose DevOps, but both technologies are trying to bridge the gap between traditional and modern applications in multi-cloud environments in order to balance sufficiently effective controls and sufficient freedom for innovation, "said Francois Loco-Don.

2014: Nginx web server used on 146 million websites

In April 2014, the number of sites using the Nginx server was 146 million (compared to 96 million in 2013). By that time, almost 39% of the 1,000 most visited sites in the world had switched to Nginx, compared with 31.6% a year earlier.

2013

In 2013, Nginx won the CNews Awards for Expansion of the Year.

Nginx web server is used on 96 million websites

According to 2013 data, the Nginx web server is used by 96 million websites, including Dropbox, Facebook, Instagram, Yandex, etc. According to a study published on April 2, 2013 by Netcraft, Nginx was not significantly ahead of the Microsoft IIS web server with a market share of about 12% in the active site segment. At the same time, Nginx ranks third in the web server market when considering the total number of Internet sites, occupying a share of 15% versus 20% from Microsoft IIS. Apache remains the leader in both segments with a result of 51% and 54%, respectively.

Launch of the first commercial product Nginx Plus

In August 2013, the company released its first commercial product - Nginx Plus - including, in addition to the Nginx web server, which can be obtained for free, tools for configuring, monitoring server activity, advanced load balancing, advanced logging, dynamic reconfiguration and technical support services.

Gus Robertson's appointment as Nginx CEO

In April 2013, Nginx hired its first CEO, Gus Robertson, a former vice president of Red Hat.

2011: Creation of Nginx

Nginx was created in 2011 by former Rambler employee Igor Sysoev with the aim of developing and promoting the solution of the same name for high-load sites, which he has been developing since 2002.

Investments

2018: $43m raised

In 2018, Nginx managed to raise another $43 million. The round was led by Goldman Sachs Growth Equity.

2017: $14m investment from New Enterprise Associates fund

In 2017, New Enterprise Associates invested $14 million in Nginx.

2016: $14m raised

In 2016, the same companies that acted as investors in the B1 round in 2014 took part in the $8 million round. At the end of the year, investments in Nginx amounted to $14 million.

2014: $20m B1 investment round closed

In the fall of 2014, Nginx closed the $20 million B1 investment round. The total volume of its investments, taking into account the new tranche, amounted to $33 million. The funds received will be used to further develop products, establish and strengthen ties with developers, marketing, as well as expand activities outside the United States^[12].

The main investor was the New Enterprise Associates (NEA) fund. Founded in 1978, NEA is one of the largest venture capital funds with a portfolio size of about $11 billion (data for autumn 2014). Invested in more than 650 companies, 175 of which conducted an IPO. Among his investments were 3Com, Juniper Networks, Macromedia, Salesforce.com, TiVo and Groupon.

The round was also attended by e.ventures, Nginx CEO Gus Robertson, Index Ventures and Runa Capital.

Index Ventures has made nearly 400 investments in more than 200 companies. Among the objects of investment are BitPay, BlaBlaCar, Dropbox, Facebook, Last.fm, Lookout, OZON.ru, Skype, SoundCloud.

2013: Raising $10M

In 2013, the company raised another $10 million. The leading investor was the New Enterprise Associates fund, co-investors were all the funds of the previous round, as well as Aaron Levie, head of Box.com.

2011: $3 million investment from three investment funds

In 2011, Nginx received $3 million in investments from three investment funds: Runa Capital, BV Capital and MSD Capital, the fund of Dell CEO Michael Dell. The shares of investors and founders of the company were not disclosed.

Notes