Leading secure service provider SSP Europe gains internet24 as an investor

SSP Europe is embarking on 2011 with a new investor. With the support and capital of internet24, the Bavarian company will further expand its national and international sales and marketing structures for distributors and customers. The first objective is to broaden the network of partners across Germany and business activity in Austria.

SSP Europe is thereby responding to the steadily rising demand for secure online services. SSP Europe’s online security and IT services cover all IT tasks – from security services such as firewall, VPN, web and email filters to intrusion prevention and remote access through to IT services like hosted exchange, online backup, server housing and hosting as well as much more. SSP Europe offers its portfolio modularly: customers can combine the services individually and flexibly according to their requirements.

With its portfolio and its indirect, specialist trade concept, SSP Europe makes it possible for system houses and providers to benefit from the ‘cloud boom’ with professional products that are proven in the industrial environment. The Company thereby offers its customers solutions at outstanding value for money.

SSP Europe has, with internet24, gained a potent investor to provide targeted funding for further expansion. In so doing, internet24 will be supporting the Company along the path it has already very successfully pursued. “The Company’s outstanding technology combined with the know-how of its management and staff, as well as the strongly growing demand for secure online services, convinced us. We will support this German technological leader in taking optimum advantage of its market position, in growing and in positioning itself as a top provider in Germany, Austria and Switzerland; in addition, this enables us to professionally broaden our portfolio with the extensive services provided by SSP Europe,” says Heiko Heerwagen, CEO of internet24.

Dr Dieter Steiner, CEO of SSP Europe, is enthusiastic about the entry of this new investor: “We are very pleased to have gained internet24 as a financially strong funding provider. This will enable us to take the next steps and to invest in broadening of our market position.” The new company obtained its start-up finance from High-Tech Gründerfonds in April 2010.

SSP Europe is already benefiting substantially from the high demand for secure online services and wants to establish itself as one of the leading players in this market. “With the help of funding from this new investor SSP Europe will be able to grow even better and more quickly,” says Markus Kressmann, Senior Investment Manager at High-Tech Gründerfonds, convinced of future success.

About SSP Europe GmbH:
As a secure service provider, SSP Europe handles the technical operation of security and IT services in state-of-the-art computing centres with what is always the latest high-performance technology, without customers having in the process to relinquish sovereignty over the configuration and analysis of the services – a control board developed in-house by SSP Europe makes this possible.

SSP Europe’s secure online services cover all IT tasks – from security services such as firewall, VPN, web and email filters to intrusion prevention and remote access through to IT services like hosted exchange, online backup, server housing and hosting and much more. SSP Europe offers its portfolio modularly and indirectly via specialist distributors and from which customers can combine the services flexibly according to their requirements. The services offered are suited to businesses with just five employees through to groups with several thousand staff. With its portfolio and its indirect, specialist trade concept, SSP Europe makes it possible for system houses and providers to benefit from the ‘cloud boom’.

Contact:
Dr. Dieter Steiner
SSP Europe GmbH
Maximilianstraße 35 a
80539 München
Tel.: +49 89 18937854-0
Fax.: +49 89 18937854-150
D.Steiner@ssp-europe.eu
www.ssp-europe.eu

About internet24 GmbH:
internet24 GmbH is located in Dresden, Germany and was founded in September 1997. With the registered trademark internet24.de the company arises as a national Internet-Service-Provider (ISP). 30.000 customers are served by 2.000 resellers and the systems, software and online presences of business customers, freelancers as well as semipublic and public institutions are being hosted.

Contact:
internet24 GmbH
Heiko Heerwagen
Managing Director
Bayrische Str. 18
01069 Dresden
Tel.: +49 (351) 2 11 20 73
Fax: +49 (351) 2 11 20 19
info@internet24.de
www.internet24.de

High-Tech Gründerfonds GmbH & Co. KG
High-Tech Gründerfonds invests risk capital in young, high-potential technology companies that convert promising research results in business success. The seed finance provided aims to enable start-ups to take their R&D project through to the creation of a prototype, a proof of concept or to market launch. High-Tech Gründerfonds provides EUR 500,000 of the seed finance and may invest up to a total of two million euros per business in subsequent rounds. Investors in this public/private partnership are the German Federal Ministry for Business and Technology, the KfW Banking Group as well as the six industrial groups of BASF, Deutsche Telekom, Siemens, Robert Bosch, Daimler and Carl Zeiss. High-Tech Gründerfonds has a fund volume of about 272 million euros.

Contact:
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH
Markus Kressmann
Investment Director
Ludwig-Erhard-Allee 2
53175 Bonn
Tel: +49 228 823001-32
Fax: +49 228 823000-50
m.kressmann@high-tech-gruenderfonds.de
www.high-tech-gruenderfonds.de