Absolight
Absolight is a French managed hosting, colocation, and IP connectivity provider founded in 1998, operating its own FreeBSD-based autonomous network across 9 datacenters in Paris and Montpellier. It serves B2B enterprises with hosting, colocation, network engineering, and exclusive sectoral .fr domain registration.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1998
- HeadquartersParis, France
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Absolight does
Absolight is a French managed hosting, colocation, and IP connectivity provider headquartered in Paris (99 rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin, 75010), founded in 1998 by Bruno Zuzzé and Bruno Spiquel as Sohanet — a web design agency that pivoted into hosting when clients requested it. Mathieu Arnold joined in 2000, the platform migrated to FreeBSD, and the company rebranded as Absolight. The company operates its own autonomous network infrastructure spanning 9 datacenters across the Paris region and Montpellier through the GIE wan2many joint venture with ovea (formed 2009). Core technology is FreeBSD-based, running on Brocade and Cisco Systems equipment with native IPv6 routing, a dense mesh topology (as opposed to typical star topologies), 5Gbps total internet capacity, 4 active 1Gbps transit providers (Level3, Open Transit/Orange, Tata, Cogent), 2 backup transit links, and 100+ peering agreements. An internally developed temperature monitoring system with 70 sensors per 40m² room provides proprietary datacenter oversight.
The commercial offering rests on four pillars: managed server hosting (FreeBSD and Linux, Apache, shared and dedicated), colocation/housing in tiered Paris-region and Montpellier facilities (Telehouse, Telecity, Equinix, Level3, NetCenter, Cogent, Eureka), IP connectivity including transit and peering via its own AS and RIPE LIR status, and bespoke network/system engineering (BGP, IPv6, custom infrastructure). Ancillary recurring-revenue lines include an SFTP backup service (€32 HT/month for 10GB), an authenticated/encrypted SMTP relay with a free 5-emails-per-30-minutes tier and paid quotas, and exclusive registration rights for 8 sectoral .fr domains (€25 HT/year) covering French regulated professions such as notaries, lawyers, doctors, and veterinarians.
Absolight runs a controlled-portfolio, direct B2B model targeting French and European enterprises that need tailored infrastructure rather than mass-market packages. Distribution is direct via the website contact form and dedicated info@/support@ inboxes, with growth driven primarily by word-of-mouth and reputation. The company is structured as a SARL with €42,000 of capital, is privately held with no external funding, and self-describes as profitable with a financially independent posture that allowed it to survive the dot-com bust. Headcount is described only as 'human-sized' with three named founders/partners; revenue, headcount, and detailed financials are not publicly disclosed.
Absolight firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Absolight
- Legal name
- Absolight
- Website
- https://absolight.fr
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1998
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Absolight is a French managed hosting, colocation, and IP connectivity provider founded in 1998, operating its own FreeBSD-based autonomous network across 9 datacenters in Paris and Montpellier. It serves B2B enterprises with hosting, colocation, network engineering, and exclusive sectoral .fr domain registration.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Absolight is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Paris
- HQ country
- France
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Absolight business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Infrastructure, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Server Hosting and Colocation: Physical server hosting, colocation, and housing services in their datacenter infrastructure.
- Sectoral Domain Registration: Registration of sectoral .fr domains for professional sectors. Unit price of €25 HT/year with volume discounts available.
- Backup Service: FTP/SFTP-based backup service with 10Go storage starting at €32 HT/month. Offers 5-day or more history with hourly archive granularity.
- SMTP Relay Service: Authenticated and encrypted SMTP server service. Free tier limited to 5 emails per 30 minutes. Paid quotas available for higher volume needs.
- IP Connectivity: IP connectivity services, transit, and peering arrangements.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Sectoral domain registration - €25 HT/year per domain |
| Unit Pricing | Monthly | Backup service - 10Go starting at €32 HT/month |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | SMTP service - Free tier with limited quota |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
Absolight product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Absolight provides managed server hosting, datacenter colocation/housing, IP connectivity (transit and peering), and network/system engineering services to French and European businesses, operating its own autonomous network across nine datacenters in the Paris region and Montpellier. Supporting recurring offerings include an SFTP-based backup service, an authenticated SMTP relay, sectoral .fr domain registration, and a commercialized in-house temperature monitoring solution for datacenters.
Product overview
Absolight offers a comprehensive managed hosting portfolio built around four core service pillars: server hosting (colocation/housing), IP connectivity, and network/system engineering. The company operates its own autonomous network infrastructure spanning 7 POPs across the Paris region and southern France, with 5 transit providers and 100+ peering agreements. Supporting services include a commercial backup service (SFTP-based, €32/month for 10Go), authenticated SMTP relay (free tier available), and sectoral .fr domain registration (first authorized registrar for 8 professional domains at €25/year). The company also commercializes an internally-developed temperature monitoring solution for datacenters, and provides free online tools including a bandwidth calculator, password generator, and IP checker.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Hébergement de serveurs (Server Hosting) Managed server hosting with shared and dedicated server options, supporting FreeBSD and Linux operating systems, Apache web server, and comprehensive system administration. Designed for French and European businesses needing reliable, expert-supported hosting with custom configurations.
- Colocation / Housing Datacenter colocation and housing services providing physical space for client equipment in tiered facilities across the Paris region (Telehouse, Telecity/Courbevoie, Equinix/Saint Denis, Level3/Nanterre) and southern France (MIT, NetCenter, Cogent, Eureka in Montpellier), with redundant power, cooling, and security.
- Connectivité IP (IP Connectivity) IP connectivity services including transit, peering agreements, and autonomous system management via RIPE, with 5Gbps total internet capacity across 7 POPs, 10 border routers, and 100+ peering partners.
- Ingénierie Réseau et Système (Network and System Engineering) Network and system engineering services covering network design, BGP routing, IPv6 deployment, and custom infrastructure solutions for enterprise clients requiring bespoke technical work.
- Service de backup (Backup Service) SFTP-based remote backup service with FTP access to backup history (5+ days default, hourly archive granularity available). 10Go of storage starts at €32 HT/month with custom configurations for disk space and history depth. Targeted at resellers and technical administrators already running their own infrastructure.
- Serveur SMTP (SMTP Relay Service) Authenticated and encrypted SMTP relay service accessible via port 25 (SMTP) and 587 (submission). Free tier limited to 5 emails per 30 minutes; higher quotas available on request. Developed and operated internally.
- Domaines sectoriels (Sectoral .fr Domain Registration) Registration and management of restricted sectoral .fr domain names for French professional sectors: .chirurgiens-dentistes.fr, .geometre-expert.fr, .notaires.fr, .avocat.fr, .veterinaire.fr, .experts-comptables.fr, .aeroport.fr, .medecin.fr. Priced at €25 HT/year per domain with volume discounts for bulk registrations.
- Monitoring Température (Temperature Monitoring) Proprietary datacenter temperature monitoring solution using 70 sensors per 40m² zone, readings every minute, with threshold alerts and evolution graphs. Developed 100% internally and commercialized as a modular product to other datacenter operators.
Quantifiable outcome
- Domain reactivation service: same-day restoration in most cases
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Absolight
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Absolight technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Absolight partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- wan2many GIE (with ovea)coreAbsolight and ovea formed GIE wan2many to pool their two networks and work on large-scale client projects. The network covers 9 datacenters (5 Paris, 4 Montpellier) enabling point-to-point data transport in a totally redundant, 100% controlled technical environment.
- Level3 CommunicationscorePrimary transit provider with 2Gbps connection. One of five transit suppliers providing internet connectivity capacity.
- Open Transit (Orange)corePrimary transit provider with 1Gbps connection.
- Tata CommunicationscorePrimary transit provider with 1Gbps connection.
- BrocadecoreNetwork equipment provider for the independent network infrastructure.
- Cisco SystemscoreNetwork equipment provider for border routers and network infrastructure.
- Telehouse (Paris Voltaire)coreDatacenter provider for private spaces in Paris.
- Telecity (Courbevoie)coreDatacenter provider for private spaces in Paris region.
- Equinix (Saint Denis)coreDatacenter provider for private spaces in Saint Denis.
- Level3 (Nanterre)coreDatacenter provider for private spaces in Nanterre.
- PromopixelcorePromopixel delegated sectoral domain registry management to Absolight, making Absolight the first authorized registrar for .fr sectoral domains including .chirurgiens-dentistes.fr, .geometre-expert.fr, .notaires.fr, .avocat.fr, .veterinaire.fr, .experts-comptables.fr, .aeroport.fr, .medecin.fr
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Absolight competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Gandi: French domain registrar and hosting provider offering shared hosting, VPS, dedicated servers, and cloud services. Comparable to Absolight on the domain registration and hosting fronts, particularly for French SMBs and professional customers.
- Ikoula: French managed hosting and cloud provider offering dedicated servers, private cloud, colocation, and managed services. Directly comparable to Absolight on B2B server hosting, colocation, and managed IT services for French enterprises.
- NFranceConseil: French hosting provider operating datacenters in the Paris region, offering dedicated servers, VPS, colocation, and managed services. Comparable to Absolight on French B2B hosting, colocation, and IP connectivity for small and mid-market enterprises.
- Scaleway: French cloud and bare-metal hosting provider (part of Iliad/Free group) offering dedicated servers, colocation, and managed services across French datacenters. Comparable to Absolight on server hosting, colocation, and B2B infrastructure services with a French-centric operational base.
Broad incumbents
- OVHcloud: Largest European cloud and hosting provider, headquartered in France, offering dedicated servers, hosted private cloud, public cloud, and colocation. Directly comparable to Absolight on hosting, colocation, and IP connectivity for B2B customers, though at vastly larger scale and with a global footprint.
- Equinix: Global colocation and interconnection provider whose Paris-area datacenters (Saint Denis) house Absolight's infrastructure. Comparable as an ecosystem peer — Absolight is a tenant in Equinix facilities and competes for the same French B2B colocation demand at much smaller scale.
- Hetzner: German hosting provider operating its own datacenters across Germany, Finland, and the US, offering dedicated servers, cloud, and colocation. Comparable to Absolight on the dedicated hosting, colocation, and B2B infrastructure model, but at significantly larger scale.
- Cloudflare: Global network and connectivity services provider offering transit, peering, security, and edge compute. Comparable to Absolight on IP connectivity, transit, and ASN-level services, though Cloudflare operates at vastly larger scale with automated platform delivery.
Emerging players
- Aquilenet: Small French cooperative ISP and hosting provider offering FTTH, hosting, and connectivity services with a focus on ethical operation and digital sovereignty. Comparable to Absolight on the French B2B/niche ISP and hosting axis, particularly for sovereignty-conscious customers.
- Tetaneutral: Small French associative/neutral ISP offering connectivity and hosting services with a community/cooperative model. Comparable to Absolight as a niche French operator with its own network and AS providing hosting and transit to a local B2B customer base.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Absolight social profiles
Digital presenceAbsolight compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Absolight financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Absolight leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Absolight subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Absolight funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Absolight 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 Absolight
What does Absolight do?
Absolight provides managed server hosting, datacenter colocation/housing, IP connectivity (transit and peering), and network/system engineering services to French and European businesses, operating its own autonomous network across nine datacenters in the Paris region and Montpellier. Supporting recurring offerings include an SFTP-based backup service, an authenticated SMTP relay, sectoral .fr domain registration, and a commercialized in-house temperature monitoring solution for datacenters.
Is Absolight a public or private company?
Absolight is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Absolight founded?
Absolight was founded in 1998. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Absolight based?
Absolight is headquartered in Paris, France, in the Europe region.
How does Absolight make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Server Hosting and Colocation is the primary driver. The others are sectoral Domain Registration, backup Service, SMTP Relay Service and IP Connectivity.
Who are Absolight's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Gandi, Ikoula, NFranceConseil and Scaleway. Broad incumbents are OVHcloud, Equinix, Hetzner and Cloudflare. Emerging players are Aquilenet and Tetaneutral.
Does Absolight have an API?
No public API is recorded for Absolight.