Frank Pavilonis

Team · Business Development

Frank Pavilonis

Head of Business Development, Acquiry

Connects buyers and sellers of digital businesses and related assets across gaming, blockchain, SaaS, media and domain markets — with a background in registry, registrar and aftermarket operations.

Palm Beach, Florida, USA · Global coverage

About

Who Frank is

Frank Pavilonis is Head of Business Development at Acquiry. He works with acquirers, founders and operators on introductions and mandate conversations spanning digital businesses and domain-adjacent assets.

His career has covered registry business development, registrar channel work, aftermarket brokerage and portfolio operations at organisations including Uniregistry, Dominion Enterprises and CentralNic (now Team Internet), as well as his own ventures in domain acquisition and consulting.

At Acquiry he applies that network and transaction experience to buy-side and sell-side digital M&A. For introductions or mandate discussions, email frank@acquiry.com or use Acquiry’s contact page.

Background

From financial brokerage to digital assets

Before domains and digital assets, Frank worked in financial markets — including commodities brokerage roles in Chicago and earlier mortgage brokerage. That grounding in negotiation, market structure and client relationships shaped how he approaches digital-asset transactions today.

From the mid-2010s he moved into the domain ecosystem: registrar growth, registry business development, aftermarket products and portfolio operations. That path sits underneath his Acquiry work — understanding how digital inventory, channels and counterparties actually move.

Financial markets

Brokerage foundation

Senior roles in commodities and mortgage brokerage in Chicago — client relationships, negotiation and market execution.

Domain industry

Registry, registrar and aftermarket

Leadership and consulting work spanning registrar sales, registry business development, channel partnerships and aftermarket platforms.

Advisory

Acquiry

Joined Acquiry as Head of Business Development to connect digital-business and domain-market counterparties into structured M&A processes.

Career

Selected timeline

Institutional summary of publicly described roles. Client identities and private deal values are not listed here.

Jul 2025 – Present

Head of Business Development — Acquiry

Business development for digital M&A mandates across gaming, blockchain, SaaS, eCommerce and domain verticals; introductions and counterparty engagement for buy-side and sell-side work.

2023 – Present

GFV Media / Greenfield Ventures

Domain acquisition and consulting services for brands, investors and professional advisers; business-development consultancy in the domain industry.

2019 – 2023

CentralNic plc (now Team Internet)

Aftermarket and consulting engagement across registry and registrar clients; domain portfolio operations and aftermarket programmes.

2014 – 2020

Uniregistry and Dominion Enterprises

Registrar sales growth, registry business development, channel partnerships and aftermarket product launch work; registry business-model restructuring at Dominion Registry.

Earlier

Financial brokerage — Chicago

Commodities brokerage and mortgage brokerage roles preceding the move into domain and digital-asset markets.

The role

What Frank focuses on at Acquiry

Day to day the work is practical: clarifying what a buyer or seller wants, opening the right conversations, qualifying counterparties, and handing off into Acquiry’s structured mandate process. For how mandates run end-to-end, see How We Work, Acquisitions and Exits.

Mandate conversations

First-contact clarity on criteria, sector fit and process expectations before wider market engagement.

Counterparty introductions

Opening relationships across digital-business operators, domain-market participants and strategic acquirers.

Domain-adjacent deal flow

Situations where domain portfolios, aftermarket inventory or registry/registrar context sits next to a business sale or acquisition.

Channel and network mapping

Using registrar, registry and aftermarket relationships to identify who can actually transact — not only who is visible online.

Cross-border awareness

Practical attention to settlement, escrow and clearing issues when counterparties sit in different jurisdictions — see his research below.

Handoff into process

Moving qualified interest into Acquiry’s valuation, structure and execution workflow with Joash and the transaction team.

Principles

How the work is approached

  • Confidential first contact Information control protects both sides while a conversation is still formative.
  • Criteria before outreach Vague briefs produce weak pipelines; mandate definition comes first.
  • Relationship-led sourcing Many relevant counterparties are reached through existing industry relationships, not public listings alone.
  • Asset quality over noise Channel dependency, transferability and counterparty capacity matter as much as a headline ask.
  • Clear handoffs Business development opens doors; structured advisory process owns valuation, documentation and close.
  • No invented claims Client identities and private consideration figures stay off public pages.
Markets

Where conversations concentrate

Verticals Frank most often discusses in an Acquiry context — each link opens the firm’s dedicated sector or practice page.

Gaming and iGaming

Operators, affiliates and related digital assets where licence quality, jurisdiction and channel economics shape buyer pools.

SaaS and software

Recurring-revenue businesses where retention, concentration and product defensibility drive underwriting.

Fintech and payments

Payment and financial-technology businesses where licensing and capital structure shape transferability.

Media and content

Audience and content businesses where distribution ownership and platform dependency dominate diligence.

Writing

Research by Frank

Published Acquiry research authored by Frank Pavilonis. Future Frank-authored articles should use the same author URL and Person entity.

Team

Colleague

Frank works with Acquiry’s founder on mandate formation and execution.

Joash Boyton

Founder

Joash Boyton

Founder and Managing Director of Acquiry — digital M&A advisory across SaaS, fintech, gaming, blockchain and media.

Contact

Work with Frank

Mandate introductions, digital-asset conversations and business-development enquiries.

Phone numbers are not published on this page. Optional credentials remain unpublished pending written confirmation.