Aqua Ray

What Aqua Ray does

Aqua Ray is a French Managed Services Provider founded in 2003 in Ivry-sur-Seine, operating as a SAS with €178,300 of share capital. It delivers sovereign cloud infrastructure, managed private cloud, secure web hosting, dedicated servers, object storage, colocation, and outsourced IT operations to organizations whose workloads require French data residency, HDS or ISO 27001 compliance, or independence from US hyperscalers subject to the Cloud Act. Named customers span healthcare (Calmedica), real estate investment management (Inter Gestion REIM), public-adjacent software (Entr'ouvert), and a long tail of startups and SMBs across technology, retail, animal welfare, and ecological sectors.

The technical stack is built exclusively on open-source components controlled by French and EU entities: XCP-ng for virtualization, Ceph for the STAR object storage platform with S3/Swift API compatibility, Linux as the operating system, HAProxy for load balancing, Intel Xeon Gold CPUs, and Ollama for AI/LLM inference. Aqua Ray owns and operates Tier IV certified Aurora IVY1 (56 bays, 200 KVA, PUE below 1.39) and the newer Aurora IT3 (8 bays, 40kW) dedicated to AI and high-performance workloads, with backup platforms subcontracted to Interxion France / Digital Realty (PAR6). The portfolio covers dedicated Linux/macOS/Synology servers, Cloud Privé Sécurisé (HDS/ISO 27001 managed private cloud), Cloud Privé Infogéré, the Le Nuage Français collaborative SaaS suite, STAR object storage, VPS, Retrospect-based backup, managed applications (Zulip, Nextcloud, Matomo, GitLab, BigBlueButton, MediaWiki), full outsourcing/infogérance, an externalized SOC operated by U.Neat with Sekoia SIEM and HarfangLab EDR, and a sovereign AI inference service on CPU using open-source models.

The business model is subscription-led with managed-services overlay. Web hosting is sold annually starting at €24 ex-VAT/year with domains from €12/year, dedicated servers and colocation bill monthly, and Cloud Privé contracts are negotiated as monthly retainers with SLAs, GTI/GTR commitments, quarterly steering committees, and add-ons for PRA, metrology, pentests, and dedicated maintenance windows. Distribution is direct (phone, contact form, extranet) with a supplementary apporteurs d'affaires referral channel. Investor disclosures are absent; revenue, ARR, funding history, and headcount (listed as 1–10) are not publicly reported. Recent capital projects — including the planned 1 MW Kalgan ecological data center in Essonne — indicate the company is reinvesting into sovereign capacity and AI-ready infrastructure rather than scaling a venture-backed growth path.

Name

Aqua Ray

Legal name

Aqua Ray SAS

Website

https://aquaray.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Aqua Ray is a French managed services provider founded in 2003 delivering sovereign cloud infrastructure, ISO 27001 and HDS certified private cloud, Tier IV colocation, web hosting, and managed IT services to healthcare, public-sector, and SMB clients using 100% open-source technology in its own Île-de-France data centers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Managed Cloud Infrastructure Services

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), Computer Facilities Management Services (541513), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Cloud Networking Core Services (VPC/VNet, Load Balancing, DNS, NAT) (HDABAAAJ)

Keywords

• Managed cloud hosting
• Sovereign cloud services
• Data center colocation
• Dedicated server hosting
• Managed cybersecurity services

Headquarters

HQ city

Ivry-sur-seine

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Dedicated Server Hosting: Physical and virtual dedicated server rental with monthly billing. Includes Business Box (Linux), Apple Mac Mini (macOS), and Synology ranges. Servers remain Aqua Ray property with client usage rights transferred.
2. Web Hosting & Domain Names: Shared hosting with annual subscription. Domain name registration and management included.
3. Managed Private Cloud: Fully managed, redundant cloud infrastructure with CPS (Cloud Privé Sécurisé) and managed private cloud offerings. Includes quarterly system updates, annual backup restoration tests, CVE monitoring.
4. Data Center Colocation: Ranging from 1U unit rental to full bay compartments (1/4, 1/2, 1 bay) in Tier IV certified facilities. Includes IP transit and IP addresses.
5. Public Cloud Services: Virtual servers, object storage (STAR), Retrospect backup storage, and managed applications (Zulip, Nextcloud, Matomo, GitLab, BigBlueButton, MediaWiki).
6. Outsourcing / Infogérance: Full infrastructure management including installation, configuration, maintenance, automated backups, and 24/7 supervision of client-hosted equipment.
7. AI/LLM Inference Services: Sovereign AI inference on CPU using open-source models (Gemma 4, Mistral Small, Llama 3.2) deployed on CPS infrastructure without GPU dependencies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Aqua Ray is a French Managed Services Provider that designs, hosts, and operates sovereign cloud infrastructure for organizations with regulatory and data-residency constraints. Its core offerings span dedicated Linux/macOS/NAS servers, web hosting and domain registration, fully managed secure private cloud (Cloud Privé Sécurisé with ISO27001 and HDS certifications), Tier IV certified colocation in proprietary Aurora data centers, Ceph-based object storage with S3/Swift APIs, and CPU-based sovereign AI inference on open-source models. The company also delivers end-to-end infrastructure outsourcing (Infogérance) and externalized SOC cybersecurity monitoring.

Product overview

Aqua Ray is a French MSP (Managed Services Provider) specializing in sovereign cloud services, managed web hosting, and cybersecurity since 2003. The product portfolio consists of three core infrastructure layers: (1) Bare metal dedicated servers in Business Box (Linux), Apple Mac Mini (macOS), and Synology (NAS) ranges; (2) Private cloud services led by Cloud Privé Sécurisé (HDS/ISO27001 certified) for critical applications and sensitive data, supplemented by Cloud Privé Infogéré and Le Nuage Français collaborative messaging; (3) Public cloud offerings including STAR object storage (Ceph-based with S3/Swift API), virtual servers, and Retrospect backup. Web hosting and domain registration serve as entry-level offerings. Colocation services provide Tier IV certified bay space for customer hardware. Add-on services include managed application maintenance (Zulip, Nextcloud, Matomo, GitLab, BigBlueButton, MediaWiki), SOC externalized monitoring, and infogérance (full IT outsourcing). All services emphasize French sovereignty, open-source software, and independence from non-European technology providers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Business Box Range (Dedicated Linux Servers) High-performance dedicated Linux servers for demanding web hosting, application deployment, and compute workloads; in-stock delivery within 12 hours and up to 15 business days for made-to-order configurations.
• Apple Mac Mini Range (Dedicated macOS Servers) Dedicated macOS servers based on Apple Mac Mini hardware, suited to macOS-specific development and deployment scenarios including private AI inference.
• Synology Range (Dedicated NAS Storage Servers) Dedicated Synology NAS servers for storage, backup, and data management with integrated HyperBackup compatibility to the STAR object storage.
• Web Hosting Shared web hosting with email services, DNS hosting, and domain registration from €12 HT/year, with hosting plans from €24 HT/year; billed annually.
• Cloud Privé Sécurisé (CPS) Fully managed, ISO27001 and HDS certified redundant private cloud platform for critical web applications and sensitive data including health data; built on sovereign, French-operated infrastructure with optional add-ons such as dedicated disaster recovery, advanced metrology, dedicated pentest, and evening/night maintenance windows.
• Cloud Privé Infogéré Managed private cloud infrastructure with dedicated, flexible resources for custom deployment requirements that do not necessarily need HDS-grade certification.
• Le Nuage Français (LNF) French sovereign collaborative messaging and office suite SaaS, covered by Aqua Ray's HDS certification and targeted at organizations needing a sovereign alternative to mainstream collaboration tools.
• Infogérance (Managed Infrastructure Outsourcing) End-to-end managed services for the full infrastructure lifecycle: installation, configuration, maintenance, automated backups, software management, and 24/7 supervision of customer equipment hosted by Aqua Ray.
• STAR (Stockage Objet / Object Storage) Ceph-based object storage service with S3 and OpenStack Swift API compatibility, near-unlimited capacity, triple data replication, and automatic redundancy across two Île-de-France data centers.
• Virtual Servers (VPS) Virtual private servers on dedicated flexible infrastructure within Aqua Ray's public cloud environment.
• Retrospect Backup Storage Unlimited backup storage destination for Retrospect backup software, enabling automated data protection and disaster recovery on sovereign infrastructure.
• Managed Applications (Maintenance Applicative) Maintenance and operational support for open-source applications hosted on Cloud Privé, including Zulip, Nextcloud, Matomo, GitLab, BigBlueButton, and MediaWiki.
• Shared Bay Colocation Compartmentalized bay colocation (1/4, 1/2, or full bay) within the Tier IV certified Aurora data center with 24/7 autonomous access; full bays up to 3kW capacity in 47U 600x1000mm format with 1G IP transit included.
• Single Server Colocation Per-unit (1U increment) server colocation in the certified Aurora data center, with usage requiring Aqua Ray staff presence; useful for customers hosting one or several servers.
• SOC Externalisé (Externalized SOC) Externalized Security Operations Center service providing 24/7 continuous monitoring, incident qualification, and coordinated response using Sekoia (SIEM) and HarfangLab (EDR), operated by partner U.Neat to protect Aqua Ray's Cloud Privé hosting customers.
• Sovereign AI Inference (CPU-based Ollama LLM) Sovereign AI/LLM inference service deployed on CPU-only infrastructure using Ollama and open-source models (Gemma 4, Mistral Small, Llama 3.2), enabling private ChatGPT-style deployments, document summarization, contract analysis, medical record processing, and AI-assisted coding on HDS-certified infrastructure.

Quantifiable outcome

• 99.995% availability (Tier IV certified design) - 0.8 hours annual downtime
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

AI capability4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered supporting, core and strategic.

• 42onsupportingTechnology or IntegrationCeph specialist partner providing expert support for Ceph-based STAR object storage platform. 42on assists with debugging and complex incident resolution due to Ceph's distributed architecture complexity.
• Interxion France (Digital Realty)supportingTechnology or IntegrationSubcontractor for backup platforms and disaster recovery (PRA) hosting for Cloud Privé Sécurisé. Houses STAR storage backups in PAR6 data center. HDS, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, ISO 22301, ISO 45001 certified. Risk of US jurisdiction access under Cloud Act mitigated by encrypted storage and no logical access for Interxion staff.
• U.NeatcoreTechnology or IntegrationSOC (Security Operations Center) operator providing 24/7 externalized security monitoring using Sekoia SIEM and HarfangLab EDR. Qualifies incidents and coordinates response for Aqua Ray's Cloud Privé hosting.
• EuclidiastrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlliance of independent European cloud actors. Aqua Ray's suppliers are selected primarily within Euclidia, ensuring service without dependency on foreign proprietary technology.
• AFNORsupportingTechnology or IntegrationCertification body for ISO 27001 and HDS certifications. Conducted second-phase audit in July 2022 confirming Aqua Ray's compliance.
• Uptime InstitutesupportingTechnology or IntegrationGlobal reference for data center reliability certification. Certified Aurora IVY1 Tier IV design in January 2021. Trained Guillaume de Lafond as Accredited Tier Designer (ATD) in June 2019.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Ikoula: French managed cloud and dedicated-server provider offering VPS, hosted private cloud, and managed services. Comparable because of similar product breadth (dedicated servers, hosted private cloud, web hosting) and longstanding French-market focus.
• Scaleway: French sovereign cloud IaaS/PaaS provider offering VPS, object storage (S3-compatible), managed Kubernetes, and Bare Metal servers. Comparable because both target French/European customers seeking an alternative to US hyperscalers with cloud, hosting and managed services under a similar sovereign-cloud narrative.
• Clever Cloud: French PaaS / managed cloud provider focused on European open-source deployments and sovereignty. Comparable because of the shared open-source-first positioning, hosting as-a-service model, and European data-residency narrative.
• Outscale: Sovereign French IaaS provider (subsidiary of Dassault Systèmes) with SecNumCloud and HDS-qualified cloud, storage and managed services. Comparable because of similar sovereign positioning, healthcare/eligibility certifications and direct competition for CPS-type workloads.
• Infomaniak: Swiss sovereign cloud and web hosting provider with its own datacenters and strong privacy/sovereignty brand. Comparable because of the sovereignty-first positioning, owned data-center footprint, and shared EU/CH data-residency target market.
• Cloud Temple: French sovereign cloud provider focused on defence, healthcare, and regulated-industry workloads with SecNumCloud and HDS certifications. Comparable because both target the same compliance-driven sovereignty segment and market CPS-style secure private cloud to French organisations.
• Hetzner: German hosting and cloud provider operating its own datacenters with dedicated servers, cloud servers, object storage, and managed services. Comparable because of similar self-built infrastructure model and recurring revenue streams across hosting and cloud.

Broad incumbents

• IONOS (1&1 IONOS): Large European hosting and cloud provider offering shared hosting, dedicated servers, cloud servers, and SaaS office productivity (now including Online.net). Comparable because of broad overlap in hosting/cloud offerings for SMBs and enterprises across Europe.
• OVHcloud: Largest French cloud provider with public cloud, private cloud (Hosted Private Cloud), bare metal, web hosting, and SecNumCloud-certified offerings. Comparable because of overlapping product mix (cloud IaaS, dedicated servers, hosting, colocation), but at significantly larger scale.

Regional players

• Exoscale: European (Swiss-origin, now A1 Group) sovereign cloud provider with IaaS, object storage, and managed databases across Swiss, Austrian, German, French and other zones. Comparable for the sovereign European cloud and S3-compatible object storage model, but primarily competes outside France.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/aquaray_fr
• Facebookfacebook.com/aquaray
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aquaray

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Aqua Ray