GRASS-MERKUR
GRASS-MERKUR is a private German IT service provider based in Hannover operating an ISO 27001-certified datacenter, delivering colocation, managed services, hybrid cloud, consulting, and software development to mid-market and enterprise customers requiring German data sovereignty and DSGVO compliance.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersHanover, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What GRASS-MERKUR does
GRASS-MERKUR GmbH & Co. KG is a private German IT service provider headquartered in Hannover, founded in 2000 and operating as a GmbH & Co. KG under three Managing Directors (Jens Ahlbrand, Helmut Hartung, Holger Sievers). The company runs an ISO 27001-certified security datacenter in Hannover/Anderten and delivers five integrated service lines: Colocation (housing of customer hardware), Managed Services (24x7 NOC monitoring, backup, endpoint management), Cloud Services (Private, Public, and Hybrid Cloud built on S3, OpenStack, Ceph, and Swift standards with a self-service GM-Cloud Konfigurator), Consulting (strategy, compliance, sourcing, datacenter automation), and Software Development. Its core differentiator is German data sovereignty — DSGVO compliance, German-located infrastructure, and a deep certification stack including ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, TISAX, CrefoZert, and EcoZert.
The business model combines recurring managed-services and subscription cloud revenue with project-based consulting and software development work. Go-to-market is primarily direct enterprise sales to German mid-market and enterprise customers, supplemented by a structured partner program for resellers (TIM AG, LINET Services, NETUNITY, COMBACK, ScanSecurity) and technology integrations (Fortinet, Veeam, Rubrik, Arctic Wolf, Fujitsu, OpenStack/Sardina Systems, Vodafone, Ribbon). Strategic infrastructure partnerships — GlobalConnect (redundant fiber connectivity built 2019) and DE-CIX (HAN-CIX cloud exchange, April 2024) — elevate the Hannover facility into a regional interconnection point. Pricing is quote-based with annual billing cadence; specific price points are not publicly disclosed. Named customers include Deutsche Apotheter- und Ärztebank (ITIL Service Desk), with additional unnamed enterprise customers in Hannover.
GRASS-MERKUR self-positions as one of the largest IT service providers in Lower Saxony and was recognized as a Rising Star by ISG Provider Lens 2025 in both Cloud Services and Colocation quadrants. Its competitive position rests on regulated German infrastructure, hybrid-cloud integration capability, and a regional ecosystem anchored by the Hannover datacenter and economic-development partnerships with Hannover Impuls and NBank.
GRASS-MERKUR firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- GRASS-MERKUR
- Legal name
- GRASS-MERKUR GmbH & Co. KG
- Website
- https://grass-merkur.de
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2000
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- GRASS-MERKUR is a private German IT service provider based in Hannover operating an ISO 27001-certified datacenter, delivering colocation, managed services, hybrid cloud, consulting, and software development to mid-market and enterprise customers requiring German data sovereignty and DSGVO compliance.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
GRASS-MERKUR industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Datacenter and Managed Cloud Services
- akta.pro primary industry
- Retail Colocation (Multi-Tenant Data Centers) (HDABACAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Cloud-Native Development (Containers, Kubernetes, Microservices) (BPAEACAD)
Keywords
Where GRASS-MERKUR is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Hanover
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
GRASS-MERKUR business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Colocation Services: Renting server space and infrastructure in the GRASS-MERKUR datacenter. Customers place their own hardware in the secure facility, paying for space, power, and connectivity.
- Managed Services: Ongoing IT management services including system monitoring via 24x7 Network Operation Center, backup and recovery, and endpoint management.
- Cloud Services: Private, Public, and Hybrid Cloud solutions using S3, OpenStack, Ceph, and Swift technologies. Includes GM-Cloud Configurator for customer self-service.
- Consulting Services: Strategy and process consulting, technology consulting, compliance and IT security, sourcing strategies, datacenter automation, and datacenter infrastructure consulting.
- Software Development:
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Colocation services with modular pricing based on space, power, and connectivity requirements |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
GRASS-MERKUR product offering
Product offeringCore offering
GRASS-MERKUR provides colocation (housing) services from its ISO 27001-certified datacenter in Hannover, supplemented by 24x7 managed services, private/public/hybrid cloud services, IT consulting, and custom software development for German businesses. The company combines physical datacenter space with managed cloud platforms and the HAN-CIX cloud exchange to deliver digitally sovereign, DSGVO-compliant IT infrastructure for mid-market and enterprise customers.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- HAN-CIX: Cloud exchange powered by DE-CIX, located at GRASS-MERKUR data center in Hanover
- HAN-CLOUD
- GM-Cloud Konfigurator
- HAN-mover
- HAN-SIM
Products and services
- Colocation (Housing) Services Renting server space and infrastructure inside GRASS-MERKUR's secure Hannover datacenter, where customers place their own hardware and pay for space, power, and connectivity.
- Managed Services Ongoing IT management services including 24x7 Network Operation Center monitoring, backup and recovery, and endpoint management for customer infrastructure.
- Cloud Services (Private, Public, Hybrid) Private, Public, and Hybrid Cloud solutions built on OpenStack, Ceph, S3, and Swift, providing scalable cloud infrastructure with German data sovereignty for businesses.
- HAN-CIX – powered by DE-CIX Cloud exchange operated at the GRASS-MERKUR datacenter, powered by DE-CIX, enabling direct interconnection between customers' colocation infrastructure and multiple cloud providers with low latency and high data security.
- SIEM SOC_XDR Managed Security Service Managed security offering combining Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) with Security Operations Center and Extended Detection and Response (SOC_XDR) for continuous threat monitoring and detection in customer environments.
- IT Consulting Strategy and process consulting, technology consulting, compliance and IT security, sourcing strategies, datacenter automation, and datacenter infrastructure consulting for German enterprises.
- Software Development Project-specific custom software development, software testing and quality assurance, and standard software components built for customers integrating with GRASS-MERKUR infrastructure.
Companies that use GRASS-MERKUR
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
GRASS-MERKUR technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
Feature5 records
GRASS-MERKUR partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- DE-CIXcoreDE-CIX powers the HAN-CIX cloud exchange at GRASS-MERKUR datacenter, enabling direct interconnection between customers and multiple cloud providers. Provides low latency connectivity and high data security.
- GlobalConnectcoreStrategic partnership for high-availability fiber connectivity. GlobalConnect built approximately 12 km of new fiber route through Hannover city to redundantly connect GRASS-MERKUR headquarters and ISO27001-certified datacenter to their fiber network via two separate routes. Enables customers to connect to the datacenter and exchange data between public cloud providers and private cloud at GRASS-MERKUR.
- GRTNR.ITminorCyber security partner for companies, co-hosts events with GRASS-MERKUR.
- COMBACKminorSales partner for high-security IT solutions.
- g2c governance2complianceminorSales partner for individual IT compliance solutions.
- LINET Services GmbHminorSales partner (IT system house) for the Braunschweig region.
- NETUNITY GmbHminorSales partner for digital innovation for business and government.
- ScanSecurityminorSales partner for security solutions.
- TIM AGminorIT distribution partner (VAD) for data center and security technologies.
- NBank (Niedersachsen Bank)minorReceived EFRE (European Fund for Regional Development) funding through NBank for innovation in cloud services and hybrid cloud development.
- BVMW Metropolregion HannoverminorMember of BVMW, Germany's largest voluntary business network.
- EuroCloud Deutschland e.V.minorMember of the cloud computing industry association in Germany.
- eco - Verband der Internetwirtschaft e.V.minorMember of Europe's largest internet industry association.
- German Datacenter AssociationminorMember of association working to improve framework conditions for operating data centers in Germany.
- Hannover Impuls WirtschaftsförderungminorEconomic development partner supporting company location decisions in the Hannover region.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
GRASS-MERKUR competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Syseleven: Berlin-based managed cloud provider (OpenStack, Kubernetes) serving German enterprise and mid-market with sovereign cloud services — a closely comparable niche player to GRASS-MERKUR in managed private/hybrid cloud.
- IONOS: One of Europe's largest hosting and cloud providers, headquartered in Germany. Offers colocation-adjacent cloud, dedicated hosting, and managed services to German SMB and mid-market — the same regulated, sovereignty-conscious customer segment GRASS-MERKUR targets.
- Hetzner Online: German hosting and colocation provider operating multiple datacenters in Germany and Finland. Directly competes in retail colocation, dedicated servers, and now cloud (Hetzner Cloud), serving the same German sovereignty-conscious buyer base.
- PlusServer: German managed hosting and cloud provider (formerly part of Plusnet) offering dedicated hosting, managed cloud, and colocation from German datacenters — a direct regional competitor with similar target customers.
- Noris Network: Nuremberg-based German IT service provider operating its own datacenters, offering colocation, managed hosting, and cloud to German enterprise — closely comparable mid-sized domestic peer.
Broad incumbents
- Computacenter: UK-headquartered but with substantial German operations, Computacenter is a large enterprise IT infrastructure and managed services provider. Competes with GRASS-MERKUR in hybrid cloud and managed services for German enterprises, with vastly greater scale.
- T-Systems (Deutsche Telekom): Deutsche Telekom's enterprise IT arm, offering colocation, managed services, private/public cloud, and consulting to large German and European enterprises. A broad incumbent with overlapping capabilities and much greater scale than GRASS-MERKUR.
- Bechtle: Germany's largest IT system house, offering managed services, cloud, consulting, and datacenter services to mid-market and enterprise across all regions. Competes with GRASS-MERKUR especially in IT consulting and managed services for German Mittelstand.
- OVHcloud: European hyperscale cloud and bare-metal/colocation provider with datacenters across Europe. Competes with GRASS-MERKUR in German cloud and dedicated hosting, with a much broader infrastructure footprint.
Emerging players
- STACKIT (Schwarz Group): Schwarz Group's (Lidl/Kaufland) sovereign cloud and colocation business. A rapidly emerging German player explicitly targeting DSGVO-compliant workloads, increasingly competing head-to-head with GRASS-MERKUR for regulated enterprise customers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
GRASS-MERKUR social profiles
Digital presenceGRASS-MERKUR financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
GRASS-MERKUR leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
GRASS-MERKUR funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
GRASS-MERKUR M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about GRASS-MERKUR
What does GRASS-MERKUR do?
GRASS-MERKUR provides colocation (housing) services from its ISO 27001-certified datacenter in Hannover, supplemented by 24x7 managed services, private/public/hybrid cloud services, IT consulting, and custom software development for German businesses. The company combines physical datacenter space with managed cloud platforms and the HAN-CIX cloud exchange to deliver digitally sovereign, DSGVO-compliant IT infrastructure for mid-market and enterprise customers.
Is GRASS-MERKUR a public or private company?
GRASS-MERKUR is a private company. It is classified as management employee owned and is currently operating.
When was GRASS-MERKUR founded?
GRASS-MERKUR was founded in 2000. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is GRASS-MERKUR based?
GRASS-MERKUR is headquartered in Hanover, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does GRASS-MERKUR make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Colocation Services are the primary driver. The others are managed Services, cloud Services, consulting Services and software Development.
Who are GRASS-MERKUR's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Syseleven, IONOS, Hetzner Online, PlusServer and Noris Network. Broad incumbents are Computacenter, T-Systems (Deutsche Telekom), Bechtle and OVHcloud. STACKIT (Schwarz Group) is listed as an emerging player.
Does GRASS-MERKUR have an API?
No public API is recorded for GRASS-MERKUR.
What industry is GRASS-MERKUR in?
GRASS-MERKUR's product category is Datacenter and Managed Cloud Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDABACAA, Retail Colocation (Multi-Tenant Data Centers), with a secondary code of BPAEACAD, Cloud-Native Development (Containers, Kubernetes, Microservices).