Axel Neff#Digital Fortress LLC

Neff is from Buffalo, New York{{cite web|title=Linkedin Profile: Axel Neff|url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/axelneff|website=www.linkedin.com|accessdate=3 November 2014}} and graduated high school from Springville Griffith Institute.{{cite web|title=Springville GI Graduate|url=http://www.classmates.com/people/Axel-Neff/7225801286|website=www.classmates.com|accessdate=3 November 2014}} From there he moved to Philadelphia, PA to attend Swarthmore College, where he studied engineering{{cite web|title=E90 Senior Design Projects 2002-2003|url=http://www.swarthmore.edu/engineering/e90-senior-design-projects-2002-2003|website=www.swarthmore.edu|date=8 July 2014|accessdate=30 October 2014}} and played football.{{cite web|title=Linebacker Axel Neff leads the defense with 79 tackles and two sacks|url=http://athletics.wlu.edu/sports_releases/9900releases/99grid10.html|website=wlu.edu|accessdate=30 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100805144553/http://athletics.wlu.edu/sports_releases/9900releases/99grid10.html|archive-date=5 August 2010|url-status=dead}} He graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and Economics.{{cite web|title=Neff Educational Background|url=http://www.yatedo.com/p/Axel+Neff/normal/dcf26d67047db7eb0e3351d9c05d483f|website=yatedo.com|accessdate=31 October 2014}}

While in College, Neff became acquainted with Ilya Perekopsky and Pavel Durov through a mutual friend at Saint Petersburg State University.

From July 2008 to April 2014, he served as the Assistant Director of International Operations.{{cite web|title=Linkedin: Axel Neff|url=http://www.linkedin.com/in/axelneff|website=Linkedin|accessdate=3 November 2014}}{{better source needed|date=January 2015}} He assisted with various global expansion efforts, VK operational matters in the US, and translation of the social network from Russian into other languages. He played a key role in acquiring the domain name VK.com which VK transitioned to in 2012.{{cite news|title=Vkontakte Changes Name|url=http://www.ewdn.com/2012/01/27/vkontakte-ru-renamed-vk-com/|accessdate=3 November 2014}} He was also involved in VK expansion by sending contest winners iPod Nano{{cite web|title=iPod Nano won on VK.com|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/46703063@N00/4166473774/meta|accessdate=30 October 2014}} promotion from Colden, NY.{{cite web|title=VK iPod Nano Discussion Board|url=http://forum.kajgana.com/threads/lockerz-beterz-vk-e-casting-%D0%B8-%D0%B4%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B3%D0%B8-%D1%81%D0%B0%D1%98%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8-%D0%B7%D0%B0-%D0%B7%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%83%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%87%D0%BA%D0%B0.35562/page-256|website=kajgana.com|accessdate=30 October 2014}}

Digital Fortress LLC was a company created by Neff in his home city of Buffalo, New York in 2012,{{cite web|title=Digital Fortress LLC Entity Information|url=http://appext20.dos.ny.gov/corp_public/CORPSEARCH.ENTITY_INFORMATION?p_nameid=4788195&p_corpid=4313838&p_entity_name=Digital%20Fortress%20LLC&p_name_type=A&p_search_type=BEGINS&p_srch_results_page=0|website=dos.ny.gov|publisher=NYS Dept of State Division of Corporations|accessdate=31 October 2014}} and co-founded by Pavel Durov. It is engaged in the management and financing of mobile applications. Neff served as the director of this company. Digital Fortress LLC maintained its headquarters in Buffalo, New York.{{cite web|url=http://ruformator.ru/statyi/230413/pavel-durov-uletel-no-obeshhal-vernutsya|title=Павел Дуров улетел, но обещал вернуться|author=Швецова, Ксения.|date=2013-04-23|publisher=Руформатор|accessdate=2013-08-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602235229/http://ruformator.ru/statyi/230413/pavel-durov-uletel-no-obeshhal-vernutsya|archive-date=2013-06-02|url-status=dead}} In early 2013 the company bought 96 terabytes of infrastructure from QBC Systems. In April of that same year, Pavel Durov said that Digital Fortress was a cloud cluster, that was created for the benefit of startups from the Start Fellows.{{cite web|url=http://www.siliconrus.com/2013/04/pavel-durov-ne-v-ssha-zapuskaet-ne-startap-a-klaud-hosting/|title=Павел Дуров не в США; запускает не стартап, а клауд-хостинг|author=Пеганов, Александр.|date=2013-04-22|publisher=Цукерберг позвонит|accessdate=2013-08-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825164414/http://www.siliconrus.com/2013/04/pavel-durov-ne-v-ssha-zapuskaet-ne-startap-a-klaud-hosting/|archive-date=2013-08-25|url-status=dead}}

On August 14, 2013,{{cite web|title=Telegram Launch: August 14, 2013|url=http://www.telegramers.com/how-old-is-telegram|website=Telegramers.com|date=10 February 2014 |accessdate=31 October 2014}} the company released its first experimental application, called Telegram. Telegram is a freemium instant messaging application for smartphones that was built using a new encryption algorithm called MTProto,{{cite web|title=MTProto Description|url=https://core.telegram.org/mtproto/description|website=Telegram.org|accessdate=31 October 2014}} which was created by Pavel Durov's Brother, Nikolai Durov.{{cite web|url=http://slon.ru/appheroes/telegram-novyy-messendzher-ot-pavla-durova-978067.xhtml|title=Telegram: новый мессенджер от Павла Дурова|author=Болотов, Юрий.|date=2013-08-15|publisher=Slon.ru|accessdate=2013-08-19}}{{cite web|url=http://www.vedomosti.ru/tech/news/15234491/telegramma-ot-durova|title=Американская компания Павла Дурова запустила мессенджер для смартфонов Telegram|author=Дорохов, Роман.|date=2013-08-15|publisher=Ведомости|accessdate=2013-08-19}}

{{main|Telegram (software)}}

In January 2013, the news channel TV Rain reported that Neff's Digital Fortress company was working on a new project.{{cite web|title=Digital Fortress on TV Rain|url=http://tvrain.ru/articles/ekskljuziv_durov_pokinul_rossiju_delaet_novuju_sotsset_telegraph_i_pokazyvaet_nedrugam_-341689/|website=tvrain.ru|date=21 April 2013 |accessdate=31 October 2014}} At that time, it was reported the first application to be supported by Digital Fortress would be called telegra.ph, for which a domain had already been registered.{{cite web|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/print-edition/2013/01/11/qbc-systems-lands-contract-to-service.html?page=all|title=QBC Systems lands contract to service Russian market|author=Bertola, David.|date=2013-01-11|publisher=American City Business Journals|accessdate=2013-08-19}} Later this name was dropped in favor of Telegram.{{cite web|url=http://lenta.ru/news/2013/04/22/explain/|title=Дуров разъяснил происхождение слухов о новом проекте|date=2013-04-22|publisher=Lenta.ru|accessdate=2013-08-19}}

On August 14, 2013 the application was released on the Apple iOS platform. At the same time, a contest was announced to solicit developers to assist in developing the application on Android, referred to as "Durov's Android Challenge".{{cite web|url=http://www.vedomosti.ru/tech/news/15215951/pavel-durov-vylozhil-v-appstore-messendzher-telegram|title=Павел Дуров выложил в AppStore новый мессенджер Telegram|author=Агамалова, Анастасия.|date=2013-08-14|publisher=Ведомости|accessdate=2013-08-19}}

Shortly following the release of Telegram, Durov publicly spoke with Izvestia stating that "Telegram, strictly speaking is not my project". In this interview he explained that the project he partially supported by investments was Digital Fortress, a cloud hosting platform for projects like Telegram among others.{{cite web|title=Telegram is not Durov's|url=http://izvestia.ru/news/555970|website=izvestia.ru|date=26 August 2013|accessdate=3 November 2014}}

Three weeks after the launch of Telegram, it began to see nearly immediate success. Every day more than 100 000 new registered users began to appear on the network. Most of whom were from Arab countries.{{cite web|url=http://www.siliconrus.com/2013/09/go-east/|title=Телеграм на экспорт|author=Пеганов, Александр.|date=2013-09-08|publisher=Цукерберг позвонит|accessdate=2013-09-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130910111828/http://www.siliconrus.com/2013/09/go-east/|archive-date=2013-09-10|url-status=dead}}

A few months later in 2014, following the sale of WhatsApp to Facebook,{{cite news|title=Facebook buys Whatsapp|url=https://money.cnn.com/2014/02/19/technology/social/facebook-whatsapp/|accessdate=3 November 2014|agency=CNN}} Telegram saw a major growth spike when nearly 5 million new users registered in a single day.{{cite web|title=5 Mil New Users on Telegram|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/24/telegram-messaging-app-whatsapp-down-facebook|website=theguardian.com/|date=24 February 2014|accessdate=3 November 2014}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite news|last1=Dewey|first1=Caitlin|title=The secret American origins of Telegram, the encrypted messaging app favored by the Islamic State|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/11/23/the-secret-american-origins-of-telegram-the-encrypted-messaging-app-favored-by-the-islamic-state/|newspaper=The Washington Post|publisher=Nash Holdings LLC|date=23 November 2015}}
• {{cite web|last1=Yuzbekova|first1=Irina|title=Mysterious Telegram Investor from Buffalo|url=https://www.forbes.ru/tehnologii/385553-tainstvennyy-investor-telegram-iz-buffalo-o-kom-vlasti-ssha-rasskazali-v-iske-k|work=Forbes|date=17 October 2019}}
• {{cite web|last1=Chervonyi'|first1=Dmitry|title=Telegram: Pavel Durov's Instant Messaging Application|url=https://belkins.io/sales-tools/top-data-enrichment-services/telegram-pavel-durov-s-instant-messaging-application|website=Belkins.io|date=11 February 2019}}

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Category:Living people

Category:American software engineers

Category:American business executives

Category:Businesspeople from Buffalo, New York

Category:1984 births

Category:Engineers from New York (state)