STACKIT
Verified“A genuinely sovereign EU cloud — German-owned hardware, German law, no US parent.”
- Founded
- 2018
- Parent
- Schwarz Group
- Regions
- DE + AT
- Listing
- Private
94 = midpoint of Control 96 & Data 92
Sovereignty Quadrant
Control ↑ who owns & governs the company · Data → where your data lives. Every dot is a company — click to open it.
Every number below traces to 13 sourced facts across 10 independent sources, last verified 2026-06-12. 3 open questions hold confidence at 88% — they lower confidence, never the score.
Control ↑
Who legally and economically controls the company
Legal & Jurisdiction
95
Incorporated in Germany as a GmbH & Co. KG, operating HQ in Baden-Wuerttemberg, fully reachable by German and EU law (GDPR, BSI C5). No foreign parent diluting enforceability — the controlling chain stays inside Germany.
Why 95? 3 sourced facts · click to expand
Legal entity and German commercial-register entry
STACKIT Imprint (Impressum) · as of 2026-06-12
Registered office in Germany
STACKIT Imprint · as of 2026-06-12
Operating entity subject to German/EU law and GDPR
STACKIT Data Sovereignty page · as of 2026-06-12
Control & Ownership
97
100% controlled by the Schwarz Group, ultimately owned by the German Dieter Schwarz Foundation. Privately held — no stock-market listing, no foreign capital, no dual-class US listing. Both voting control and economic majority sit in Germany.
Why 97? 3 sourced facts · click to expand
Parent is the Schwarz Group (Lidl/Kaufland owner) via Schwarz Digits
Schwarz Digits product portfolio · as of 2026-06-12
Ultimate ownership sits with a German foundation, no listing
Wikipedia: Dieter Schwarz Foundation / Schwarz Group · as of 2026-06-12
Holding structure incorporated in Germany
Online-Handelsregister · as of 2026-06-12
Data →
Where your data lives and who can reach it
Data & Infrastructure
92
Runs its own OpenStack data centers exclusively in Germany and Austria — not EU regions rented on a US hyperscaler. Explicitly markets resistance to US CLOUD Act access. Small deduction because hardware, chips, and some software in any cloud remain globally sourced, and full independent ownership of every facility is asserted by the company rather than independently audited here.
Why 92? 4 sourced facts · click to expand
All regions hosted only in Germany and Austria with 3+ availability zones each
STACKIT Docs — Regions · as of 2026-06-12
Operates its own data centers, positions as a European hyperscaler
Data Center Map — STACKIT · as of 2026-06-12
Explicit CLOUD Act / foreign-access resistance claim
STACKIT Data Sovereignty page · as of 2026-06-12
STACKIT hosts data for others (incl. Google Workspace) in its own EU DCs
Schwarz Digits / Google press release · as of 2026-06-12
Operations & People
92
Headquartered and run in Germany (Baden-Wuerttemberg), German leadership team, euro reporting via Schwarz Digits, workforce centered in Germany/Austria. Operations are unambiguously EU-centered.
Why 92? 3 sourced facts · click to expand
Managing directors are based at the German operating company
STACKIT Imprint · as of 2026-06-12
Parent division scale and euro reporting
Wikipedia: Schwarz Digits · as of 2026-06-12
Founded and built inside the Schwarz Group in Germany
Schwarz Group press release · as of 2026-06-12
Aligned to the EU Commission’s official Cloud Sovereignty Framework (SEAL, Jun 2026) →
What we don’t know
3 open questions — they lower confidence, never the score
- ?
Does STACKIT own (vs. lease/colocate) every data center, and is the OpenStack stack fully self-operated end to end?
If parts are colocated or rely on third-party operators, the physical-sovereignty claim is slightly weaker than fully owned metal.
- ?
STACKIT's standalone headcount and revenue are only loosely reported (third-party estimates ~500-1,000 staff, ~USD 50m revenue).
Hard to gauge operational scale and independence versus the parent's consolidated Schwarz Digits figures.
- ?
Hardware, silicon, and some upstream software remain globally (often US/Asia) sourced.
Supply-chain layer is not EU-sovereign even though hosting, ownership, and law are — a residual dependency common to all clouds.
EU Cloud Sovereignty Framework lens
SEAL (Sovereign European Assessment Layer) is an analogous mapping for cloud providers, not a formal certification; categories below are our reading of public sources.
Strategic
Backed by the privately-held Schwarz Group with long-term, no-external-shareholder horizon; explicitly built for EU digital sovereignty.
Legal & jurisdictional
German incorporation and HQ, fully under German/EU law and GDPR; no foreign parent diluting enforceability.
Data & AI
Data stored/processed only in DE/AT; client-side encryption offered (e.g. Google Workspace), explicit CLOUD Act resistance.
Operational
Run and staffed from Germany/Austria, German leadership, euro reporting via Schwarz Digits.
Supply chain
Data centers in EU, but servers, chips and some software are globally sourced — a residual non-EU dependency.
Technological
Own OpenStack-based platform, open-source foundation to limit lock-in, no underlying US hyperscaler.
Security & compliance
ISO 27001 and BSI C5 Type 2 certified; serves KRITIS-grade Schwarz Group workloads.
Environmental sustainability
Did not verify energy mix, PUE, or renewable commitments from primary sources in this pass.
EU alternatives
EU-listed (Euronext Paris), French-controlled hyperscaler with own EU data centers — the largest independent EU peer.
German cloud/hosting provider (United Internet group), EU data centers; a direct German sovereign-cloud peer.
French cloud with EU data centers, but owned by privately-held Iliad group — solid EU option, smaller catalog.
How the method works
Methodology v2 (provisional): the score is the midpoint of two axes — Control (who owns and governs the company) and Data (where your data lives and who can reach it). Each axis is scored only on verified evidence; unknowns reduce confidence, never the score. Every input below is sourced; the weights and judgments are open to challenge.
Spotted an error? Every claim is sourced — challenge it and we correct the record.
- 2026-06-12 — Initial golden profile, authored from primary sources (human + AI review).
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Verified 2026-06-12 · Human + AI joint review (sources independently checked) · Methodology