What Collax does

Collax GmbH is a privately held German open-source IT infrastructure provider founded in 2005 and headquartered in Freiburg im Breisgau. The company develops and distributes server, virtualization, security, and groupware solutions targeted at small and medium-sized enterprises, medical practices, and freelancers across the DACH region, with additional reach into Italy and Central America through a partner and distributor channel. The company cites 2,500 SMEs served, 1,000+ V-Cube installations, several hundred virtualization customers, and approximately 1,000 infrastructure projects delivered per year through its 300+ partner network.

The technology stack is built on open-source foundations, including the KVM hypervisor integrated in the Linux kernel for its virtualization platform (Collax V-Cube, V-Cube+, V-Bien, and V-Bien Medical) and Grommunio/Kopano for its Collax Groupware Suite, which is positioned as a Microsoft Exchange alternative with German digital sovereignty. Collax adds proprietary management and orchestration layers — Collax Central (monitoring), V-Transfer (VM migration), Proactive HA (hardware health monitoring), Fencing Device (cluster isolation), Embedded SAN (storage), and Advanced Networking — and integrates third-party capabilities from Bitdefender (antivirus, anti-spam, URL filtering), Acronis (backup and disaster recovery), Paperless-ngx (document management with OCR), NCP (VPN), and SEH Computertechnik (USB device servers). Compliance-relevant features include Collax E-Archiv for audit-proof GoBD-compliant archiving and the Collax Let's Encrypt module for automated certificate provisioning.

Collax monetizes through subscription and perpetual software licenses, tiered annual support contracts (Economy Class at 48-hour response, Business Class at 24-hour, First Class at 4-hour response times), bundled hardware sales for the V-Bien Office line, and emerging per-user SaaS pricing for Kopano Webmeetings (€1/user/month) and Files for Teams (€0.50/user/month). Distribution is overwhelmingly indirect: a 300+ partner/reseller network backed by four regional distributors — bluechip Computer AG, EXTRA Computer GmbH, ICO Innovative Computer GmbH, and Happyware Server Europe GmbH — covers Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy. The company is led by Managing Director Falk Birkner, with co-founder Boris Nalbach tied to its founding, and remains independent with no disclosed venture capital or private equity ownership beyond the original 2005 $8.4 million round.

Name

Collax

Legal name

Collax GmbH

Website

https://collax.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Collax GmbH is a German open-source IT infrastructure provider offering KVM-based virtualization, business server, security gateway, and groupware solutions for SMEs and medical practices across the DACH region, Italy, and Central America through a 300+ partner network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Freiburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses: Collax generates revenue through both perpetual and subscription software licenses. Subscription licenses grant time-limited usage rights with automatic renewal. Perpetual licenses provide indefinite usage with separate maintenance contracts.
2. Support and Maintenance Contracts: Collax offers tiered support contracts (Economy Class, Business Class, First Class) with different response times ranging from 48 hours to 4 hours. Support is available Monday to Friday 8am-6pm. Maintenance for perpetual licenses includes free updates, upgrades, and new versions during the contract period.
3. Hardware Sales: Collax offers complete solutions including hardware, particularly for V-Bien Office product line targeting small environments with high availability needs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Collax develops and sells open-source-based IT infrastructure software for small and medium-sized businesses, including a KVM-based server virtualization platform (V-Cube, V-Cube+, V-Bien) with high-availability clustering, a digital workplace/business server (Collax Business Server), a security gateway with Bitdefender-powered threat protection, a Grommunio-based groupware suite positioned as an Exchange alternative, and a centralized monitoring solution (Collax Central). Offerings are sold as subscription or perpetual software licenses, bundled with optional hardware and tiered support contracts, and distributed primarily through a channel network of more than 300 partners and four regional distributors across the DACH region, Italy, and Central America.

Product overview

Collax offers a modular open-source IT infrastructure portfolio organized into three main pillars: (1) Virtualization — Collax V-Cube (KVM-based hypervisor), Collax V-Cube+ (high-availability cluster extension), and Collax V-Bien (all-in-one high-availability package for small businesses); (2) Server Solutions — Collax Business Server (digital workplace/infrastructure), Collax Security Gateway (firewall/security), Collax Groupware Suite (Exchange alternative based on Grommunio), and Collax Central Server (system monitoring); (3) Cloud Services — Collax Cloud and Acronis Cloud (backup and disaster recovery). The portfolio is extended through numerous add-on modules including Collax Document Management (Paperless-ngx-based), Collax Central (monitoring dashboard), Collax V-Transfer (VM migration), Collax Proactive HA, Collax Fencing Device, Collax Embedded SAN, Collax Advanced Networking, Collax Virus/Anti-Spam/URL-Filter (powered by Bitdefender), Collax E-Archiv, Collax Let's Encrypt, Collax SSL-VPN, and Kopano Groupware. Specialized variants include Collax V-Bien Medical for healthcare and Collax V-Essence Kit as a bundled virtualization starter package. All solutions are made in Germany with a focus on digital sovereignty and open-source technology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Collax V-Bien: High-availability virtualization and clustering solution for small businesses, medical practices, and professionals
• Collax V-Cube
• Collax V-Cube+
• Collax Business Server
• Collax Groupware Suite
• Collax Security Gateway
• Collax Central
• Collax Cloud
• Collax V-Transfer
• Collax V-Essence Kit

Products and services

• Collax V-Cube A powerful, reliable virtualization server based on the KVM hypervisor integrated in the Linux kernel, with a web-based graphical and intuitive administration interface, targeted at businesses needing to virtualize servers and workloads.
• Collax V-Cube+ A high-availability virtualization solution that connects two Collax V-Cube hypervisors to form a cluster, automatically distributing virtual machines for load balancing and seamlessly moving them between nodes on hardware failure.
• Collax V-Bien A complete high-availability virtualization package for small businesses, chain stores, joint practices, and freelancers, combining hardware, software, and support at a price comparable to a single server.
• Collax V-Essence Kit A bundled virtualization starter platform combining Collax V-Cube (hypervisor), Collax V-Transfer (VM migration), and Collax Central (management and monitoring) for streamlined virtualization deployment.
• Collax Business Server An IT server solution for the digital workplace that optimizes business processes, supports collaboration, and protects data through integrated firewall capabilities.
• Collax Security Gateway A server solution focused on data protection and network security, providing firewall capabilities for securing business data, with Bitdefender-powered antivirus, anti-spam, and URL filtering.
• Collax Groupware Suite An open-source groupware solution providing email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and collaboration features as a Microsoft Exchange alternative with full digital sovereignty, built on Grommunio.
• Collax Central Server Active system monitoring for efficient and fast administration of Collax server environments, with a clear web-based dashboard and early problem detection.
• Collax Cloud Collax's own cloud services offering flexibility and scalability, made and hosted in Germany.
• Acronis Cloud Acronis cloud storage integrated with Collax virtualization servers, providing backup and disaster recovery capabilities.
• Collax Document Management A Paperless-ngx-based document management solution providing indexed full-text search, OCR text recognition, barcode-based categorization, secure data management, and cost-saving workflows.
• Collax V-Transfer A module for migrating virtual machines between Collax V-Servers with a few mouse clicks, transferring configuration and performing pre-checks before transfer.
• Collax Proactive HA A hardware monitoring module that performs permanent health checks of server hardware components to enable proactive high-availability responses.
• Collax Fencing Device A fencing agent module for high-availability cluster environments, enabling reliable isolation of failed cluster nodes.
• Collax Embedded SAN An embedded storage area network module for Collax virtualization environments.
• Collax Advanced Networking A networking module providing bandwidth management, Policy-Based Routing, Multi-WAN load balancing, and intrusion detection and prevention (IDS/IDP) for optimized network performance and security.
• Collax Virus Protection powered by Bitdefender Bitdefender-powered antivirus protection offering triple security through an email scanner, web traffic scanner, and file scanner with automatic updates and quarantine capabilities.
• Collax Anti Spam powered by Bitdefender Bitdefender-powered spam and phishing detection technology for email traffic protection, with high detection rates independent of language or region.
• Collax URL-Filter powered by Bitdefender A URL filtering module at the central gateway powered by Bitdefender, checking every web request against 70 categories updated daily and blocking malware, phishing, and scam sites before they reach end devices.
• Collax E-Archiv An audit-proof archiving solution for email and electronic invoicing that meets German legal requirements (GoBD), featuring tamper-proof storage, four-eyes principle access control, and verifiable data integrity through signing.
• Collax Let's Encrypt Automated X.509 certificate provisioning via Let's Encrypt for browser-trusted SSL/TLS encryption of web pages, replacing manual certificate procedures with an automated Certificate Management Agent.
• Collax SSL-VPN An SSL VPN module enabling employees to securely access the company network via a standard browser without client software installation, supporting browser desktop, desktop applications, and web applications.
• Collax V-Bien Medical A specialized variant of Collax V-Bien tailored for medical practices and medical care centers, providing a fail-safe IT platform with maximum availability and German support for healthcare-specific workloads.
• Kopano Groupware for Collax Server A Kopano-based groupware add-on providing email, calendar, contacts, web meetings in HD video/audio, file sharing, mobile synchronization via ActiveSync, and Microsoft Outlook support via Z-Push.

Quantifiable outcome

• Hardly more expensive than a single server while providing high availability clustering
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers19 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• CompuGroup MedicalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Strategic cooperation announced in 2019 between Collax and CompuGroup Medical for medical sector IT solutions. Collaboration aimed at providing integrated solutions for medical practices.
• AcroniscoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2014Acronis provides backup and restore solutions integrated with Collax virtualization environments. Acronis Cyber Protect offers comprehensive security infrastructure with data backup/recovery and protection against ransomware and cyber threats. Available for all Collax virtualization servers.
• BitdefendercoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2014Bitdefender's endpoint SDK integrated into Collax server solutions for antivirus, anti-spam, URL filtering, and cloud protection. Available for Collax Business Server, Security Gateway, and Groupware Suite. Detection rate enhancement through cloud protection integration.
• GrommuniocoreTechnology or IntegrationGrommunio forms the technological foundation of the Collax Groupware Suite - the alternative to Microsoft Exchange. Open-source based with native Outlook compatibility (MAPI), ActiveSync for mobile devices. Fully integrated with Collax user management.
• KopanocoreTechnology or IntegrationKopano provides open source communication and sharing solutions integrated into Collax Groupware Suite. Offers desktop, browser, and mobile access with web meetings in HD quality. Microsoft Outlook compatible via Z-Push. Includes file sharing and enterprise mail server features.
• bluechip Computer AGcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDistributor based in Meuselwitz, Germany. One of four main Collax distributors covering the German market.
• EXTRA Computer GmbHcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDistributor based in Giengen-Sachsenhausen, Germany (operates as exone.de). One of four main Collax distributors.
• ICO Innovative Computer GmbHcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDistributor based in Diez, Germany. One of four main Collax distributors. Collaborates with Collax on hyperconvergence solutions for SMEs.
• Happyware Server Europe GmbHcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDistributor based in Buchholz in der Nordheide, Germany. One of four main Collax distributors.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Scale Computing: US-based vendor of hyperconverged infrastructure and HA virtualization appliances aimed squarely at small and mid-sized businesses. Comparable to Collax V-Bien because both sell integrated hardware-plus-software HA virtualization bundles targeting SMBs that need simple, affordable resilience.
• Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH: Austrian provider of Proxmox VE, a KVM- and LXC-based open-source virtualization platform popular with SMBs, MSPs, and homelab users. Most direct comparable to Collax V-Cube/V-Bien because both target the same customer profile with KVM-based virtualization, although Proxmox is community-driven and free while Collax is commercial and adds management/support layers.
• Kopano: German open-source groupware provider offering email, calendar, contacts, and web meetings with Outlook compatibility. Functionally comparable to Collax's Groupware Suite and Kopano add-on module; also listed as a Collax integration partner, making it both a peer and a partner in the same category.
• StarWind Software: Provider of hyperconverged infrastructure, vSAN, and HA virtualization solutions for SMBs, MSPs, and edge deployments. Comparable to Collax's V-Cube+ and V-Bien cluster products given the shared focus on affordable HA virtualization for resource-constrained IT teams.
• Nextcloud GmbH: German provider of open-source content collaboration (file sync, share, collaboration, communication). Comparable to Collax on the 'Made in Germany open-source collaboration alternative to US hyperscalers' positioning and overlaps with Collax's groupware and document management modules.
• Univention GmbH: German vendor of Univention Corporate Server, an open-source IT infrastructure and identity management platform for SMBs and the public sector. Highly comparable to Collax on the 'Made in Germany open-source IT for SMBs' positioning and on the partner-led GTM model in DACH.
• Open-Xchange (OX): Vendor of groupware, email, and digital workspace software positioned as an alternative to Microsoft Exchange/Outlook for service providers and end customers. Directly comparable to Collax's Groupware Suite because both target the Exchange-replacement opportunity with open-source-anchored offerings.

Broad incumbents

• Microsoft: Owner of Microsoft Exchange, Windows Server, and Microsoft 365, which Collax explicitly targets as a digital-sovereignty alternative with its Groupware Suite and Business Server. Adjacent/overlapping in groupware and SMB server workloads but vastly larger portfolio and bundling power.
• SUSE: German-heritage global enterprise open-source infrastructure vendor (Linux, Kubernetes, edge) with much broader portfolio. Comparable in German open-source IT-infrastructure DNA and DACH roots but operates at enterprise scale with a far wider product set than Collax.
• VMware (Broadcom): Incumbent enterprise virtualization platform acquired by Broadcom; the dominant vendor Collax explicitly positions against with V-Cube as a KVM-based alternative. Same customer workloads and use cases but very different scale, pricing model, and product breadth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/collaxcom
• Facebookfacebook.com/collaxcom

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors6 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Collax