VPN owner shows buyer’s remorse; claims was unaware of lifetime subscriptions

The CEO of the company that purchased VPNSecure in 2023 and claimed to not know that the VPN service provider had previously sold lifetime subscriptions has some regrets.

Earlier this week, Ars Technica reported on VPNSecure canceling thousands of lifetime subscriptions, starting in March. In an email to customers, VPNSecure said that it couldn't afford to maintain the subscriptions and that the current owners, InfiniteQuant Ltd, weren't told about the subscriptions when they bought VPNSecure. The sudden deactivation of accounts resulted in customer backlash online, including, as of this writing, 24 pages of one-star reviews on Trustpilot.

“… maybe, honestly, we should have just walked away from this 'opportunity,’” Romain Brabant, the CEO of InfiniteQuant Ltd, told Ars Technica when asked if he would have handled things differently in hindsight.

Further explaining the decision to deactivate lifetime subscriptions and “never,” per communications to customers, make lifetime VPNSecure subscriptions available again, Brabant said that after buying VPNSecure, InfiniteQuant Ltd learned that 90 percent of server usage came from customers with lifetime subscriptions. He said that at the time of purchase “VPNSecure was generating about $6,000/month in recurring revenue with $4,000/month in hosting costs.”

The CEO pointed to the high costs of VPN ownership, including constant server uptime, bandwidth costs, security patches, protocol updates, and daily support.

Brabant claimed that over 90 percent of VPNSecure’s lifetime subscribers paid for their subscription over 10 years ago, adding:

There’s no sustainable way to support an inherited user base of thousands who paid once, long ago, through a different company — especially without VC money or outside funding.

That seller, Brabant said, was BoostNetwork Pty Ltd in Australia. There’s limited information about the entity online; however, InfiniteQuant Ltd says it purchased VPNSecure via an asset-only sale on Flippa in May 2023. The Flippa listing shows an estimated valuation of $282,090–$344,770.