2021: The Year of Challenges, Learning and Big Wins

2021 has proven to be a challenging but incredibly rewarding year at IPXO. The long months of strategizing, designing and planning finally materialized into something tangible – the IPXO Marketplace launch.  

We officially launched the IP address lease and monetization platform in August 2021, and we could not be happier about how things are going. However, this is not the only thing that we worked on in 2021, and certainly not the only win overall.  

The road towards the IPXO Marketplace launch was long but extremely rewarding and exciting. As we neared the platform launch, our company expanded quite significantly, and we all had the chance to spend hours brainstorming and developing new concepts with wonderful people.  

Of course, leasing and monetizing IPs was not an entirely new concept for us. For several years before the Marketplace launch, we learned the ropes of leasing and monetizing IP addresses via the IP Address Market. A platform within the Heficed family of services.  

Eventually, the IP Address Market took off and started demanding more and more time and resources. Once it started shaping up into a standalone product, the IPXO Marketplace emerged quickly. 

In August 2021, after months of testing and perfecting the small details, the IPXO Marketplace (IPXO v1 Aquamarine) was finally launched.  

The launch of the IPXO Marketplace platform was split into several phases. During the first phase, we started moving ARIN and RIPE NCC subnets that were available for lease via the IP Address Market. During the second phase, we started migrating subnets from other RIRs as well.

Of course, the IPXO Marketplace was not created just to replace the IP Address Market. Right from the get-go, we aimed to make this platform better and more innovative. All the features that the IP Address Market clients loved and enjoyed were combined with amazing new features.  

As always, our main focus is on IP reputation and IP abuse observability, which are the keys that help ensure a safe environment for both IP lessors and lessees. Our experts work tirelessly to catch abuse incidents and guarantee that the reputation of the subnets put to lease is strong. 

By the end of the year, we also introduced IPXO for mobile users. The mobile integration ensured that IPXO clients could start using the IPXO Portal via mobile devices much more comfortably and conveniently. Following this update, IPXO clients were offered to participate in live demos. 

It goes without saying that we will not stop making the Marketplace the best it could be. In the future, we will offer IP geolocation and delegated RPKI services, which will provide clients with even more freedom. And we will continue innovating and introducing new and improved services. 

To track the changes within the IPXO Marketplace, check out the IPXO Changelog. 

In 2021, we held four successful webinars: 

All IPXO-moderated webinars were free in 2021, a tradition we plan to continue in 2022 as well.  

Last year, we had the privilege of discussing the IP world with many esteemed guest speakers. Including Geoff Huston (Chief Scientist at APNIC), Alex Latzko (Principal Network Architect at Deft), John Sweeting (CCO at ARIN), Lee Howard (SVP at Hilco Streambank), Gabe Fried (CEO at Hilco Streambank), Paul Rendek (Director at Dstream Group), Chris Rechtsteiner (VP of Marketing at Deft), Dan Handy (President at VisualClue) and Nick Winters (Partner at Moore Kingston Smith). 

We plan all IPXO webinars with the goal to provide insights into the IP market, educate on the issues surrounding IPv4 exhaustion and the sustainability of the internet overall, as well as to enable participants to link up to some incredible people.  

The attendants of live IPXO webinars can participate in Q&A sessions at the end of every webinar. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity often allows attendants to pick the brains of people who were instrumental in building the internet we know today. 

Follow us on LinkedIn to get the latest news on the upcoming webinars and visit our YouTube channel to find the recordings of all past webinars and other interesting content.  

Of course, our most memorable event in 2021 was the IPXO launch, which we celebrated in August. IPXO teams joined together to share this tremendous accomplishment, and this day will forever be etched into IPXO history.  

Unfortunately, in 2021, the Covid-19 pandemic continued to change the world we live in, and with that, the social aspect of any business changed as well. We traveled less, participated in fewer events in person, worked remotely and connected virtually. 

Thanks to the technology available to us and forward-thinking event planners, we were able to attend webinars and other exciting events virtually. For example, the LACNOG 2021 event held virtually in October. You can still visit IPXO’s virtual stand if you are curious! 

Although we were busy with the launch and management of the IPXO Marketplace, we took our time to learn and share our knowledge with others. Hundreds of participants joined our webinars, but this was just one of the platforms enabling us to share insights and experiences.

The IPXO Blog became a platform that helps us educate and share knowledge about the world of the internet as well as the intricacies of leasing and monetizing IP addresses.  

From learning about the differences between private vs. public IP addresses to discovering the classless inter-domain routing. From analyzing the overall IPv4 price history to discussing the dilemma of leasing vs. buying IP addresses. We made sure that everyone learned more with every new blog post. 

In 2021, we shared our wealth of knowledge via multiple information platforms as well.  

For example, Vincentas Grinius, the CEO at IPXO, compared IPv4 to IPv6 with Dataversity. Paulius Judickas, Head of Sales at IPXO, shared his thoughts on how IP leasing unlocks recurring revenue with CircleID. Gustavas Davidavicius, the Abuse Prevention Team Lead at IPXO, talked about IP address abuse handling with Electronic Specifier.  

Our hope is that with every new piece that goes out into the world, we provide insightful information about the internet, IP address security, IP address sustainability and business growth opportunities. 

2021 was nothing short of amazing. We spent the better half of the year planning and getting ready for the launch of the IPXO Marketplace. And the end of the year was marked by incredible growth and accomplishments.  

We are bringing this energy into 2022, and we have quite a few amazing things planned already. From exciting webinars and events to further growth. From new feature implementations to further innovation. We are ready to continue innovating, educating, making the internet more sustainable and helping businesses worldwide discover new growth opportunities. 

Undoubtedly, we could not have sailed through 2021 as effortlessly as we did without the amazing teams and people believing in the opportunity to scale businesses with the help of untapped IP resources.  

We are excited about 2022! How about you?