Tony Castagna and David Sitsky built Nuix in Sydney to make large volumes of unstructured data searchable. The company markets 2000 as its start. Nuix Australia Pty Ltd was incorporated on 15 November 2005.
In 2006 Nuix had two developers. By 2016 it had more than 400 staff. The company patented features of its engine in 2011. In 2013 it gave free licences to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists for Offshore Leaks. In 2016 its software helped make the Panama Papers searchable.
Rod Vawdrey became chief executive in 2017. Nuix listed on the ASX in December 2020 under the code NXL. The IPO valued it at about A$1.8 billion, with Macquarie Group holding about 30%.
In May 2021 Nuix cut ties with Castagna, who had moved from co-founder to chairman. Jonathan Rubinsztein became group chief executive in October 2021. In February 2022 ASIC ended its probe of the IPO prospectus forecasts and took no further action.