Go Daddy Targets India as a Priority Market for its Global Expansion

📅 June 21, 2012 - Announces company's 1st-ever international tech executive - Rajiv Sodhi to lead Go Daddy India.

Go Daddy, a domain name Registrar and hosting provider, yesterday announced that India has been identified as a priority market for its global expansion. To support its growth plans, the company has appointed Rajiv Sodhi as Managing Director of Go Daddy India. Sodhi is the first-ever international executive appointed by the company and will be based near New Delhi, India. Sodhi will be responsible for overseeing its expansion into the India market and is already beginning the process of hiring a team.

According to the company, Sodhi is from Gurgaon, India and has an MBA and a Bachelor of Engineering, specializing in Computer Science. Prior to the company, Sodhi worked in various roles at Microsoft India dating back to 2001. He recently held the positions of Director of SMB and Cloud Business, both with Microsoft. Sodhi's expertise is with small-to-midsize businesses looking to develop or enhance their online presence.

It articulates that the company has been serving small-to-midsize businesses in the U.S. and other parts of the world by offering online products ideal for online storefronts and backed by 24/7 customer support. Currently, it has more than 10.3 million customers worldwide and more than 53 million domain names under management. It has been offering .IN domain names, India's country code extension, since January 2009.

The company avers that it is based in Scottsdale, Ariz., USA. Internationally, it has data center facilities in Europe and Asia, as well as an office in Canada. India is expected to be the company's largest international office before the end of the year. In 2011, the company received a growth investment from KKR, Silver Lake and TCV that was designed, in large part, to fuel its international expansion.

It mentions that initial engagements in India are already underway. Last month, the company hosted two Web developer events in Chennai and Mumbai, India. Go Daddy Senior Director of Product Development Gomathi Rajesh spoke at both events, talking to a few hundred developers about various opportunities for online businesses in India, including ways to better leverage the Internet.

"We knew we needed an experienced technologist, with a deep understanding of India's culture and our Go Daddy brand of customer service. Rajiv's 14 years of experience in the technology space brings all these qualities to our business, as well as his strategic view on how to help grow online businesses," said Go Daddy CEO Warren Adelman. "Together, our vision is to expand our footprint in India, hire locally and serve customers in India with people who speak their language."

"Go Daddy's understanding of small business needs, their capacity to serve a large customer-base and their commitment to first-rate service are the primary attributes that drew me to Go Daddy India," Sodhi explained. "Go Daddy offers a one-stop shop for small businesses and consumers who are looking to grow their businesses on the Internet. From a simple domain name, or a mobile website, to cloud services, Go Daddy has it all." "This is the dawn of a new era for Go Daddy," Sodhi said. "In the months ahead, Go Daddy India will be ramping up our investments in people, assets and resources."