Dresden, 17 October 2023 - Cloud&Heat Technologies has been developing and operating energy-efficient cloud technologies based on free software for more than 10 years. A phase of development and optimisation of novel solutions in the software and hardware sector is now followed by a phase of specialisation. The motivation and goal of the spin-off process is therefore a stronger focus: the spin-off WAIYS will henceforth bundle the production-related business, especially for water-cooled container data centres and AI projects worldwide. Cloud&Heat Technologies continues to drive forward the successful specialisation in cloud services and technologies with a focus on open source and sustainability.
Based on the conviction that cloud infrastructures need to be more sustainable, Cloud&Heat Technologies positioned itself early on as a pioneer in this field by using water-cooled hardware. For example, the Dresden-based company converted the former data centre of the European Central Bank to direct hot water cooling and feeds the resulting server waste heat into the heating system of the Eurotheum high-rise building in Frankfurt am Main. With the cross-technology, consistent use of an open-source-based stack, Cloud&Heat also focuses on the provision of digitally sovereign cloud services and technologies. Cloud&Heat Technologies not only utilises open source software, but also makes important contributions to existing projects or provides its own developments as open source solutions. The life cycle management tool 'Yaook' deserves special mention here.
In addition, Cloud&Heat established another division, which is now being continued as WAIYS GmbH. The core of this division is the development and implementation of disruptive solutions in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) using a holistic approach. This includes the combination of innovative hardware and software components (such as the human brain technology developed at the Technical University of Dresden), which are offered as complete systems - from server rack systems to 40-foot container solutions - on the national and international market. As with Cloud&Heat Technologies, liquid cooling is also used for WAIYS hardware, which enables energy-efficient operation of the AI infrastructures.
Through the spin-off of WAIYS GmbH, the complexity that has arisen with the breadth of topics is to be addressed in smaller units, which will allow both companies to concentrate on their respective strengths.
The respective focus on the two business areas is also accompanied by a realignment of the management. Dr Jens Struckmeier (Co-Founder of WAIYS and Co-Founder of Cloud&Heat Technologies); Holm Puder (Co-Founder of WAIYS, previously Team Lead Thermal Design at Cloud&Heat Technologies), Kristina Rübenkamp (Co-Founder of WAIYS, previously CFO at Cloud&Heat Technologies) and Leonie Wolf (Co-Founder of WAIYS, previously Director Strategy & Business Development Middle East and Asia at Cloud&Heat Technologies) will guide the fortunes of WAIYS GmbH as the Management Board. The management of Cloud&Heat Technologies remains in the hands of Nicolas Röhrs (CEO) and Dr Marius Feldmann (COO).
"Started as a pioneer and ambassador of sustainable data centres, we have established ourselves over the years as a German-based cloud service and technology provider - and have grown in breadth. The spin-off of WAIYS GmbH is the logical step and the result of our expanded business fields as well as individual company needs. We at Cloud&Heat Technologies see this as an opportunity to maintain our open source focus on a national level, to strengthen the local SME sector and to give new impetus to the topic of digital sovereignty. At the same time, we know that the spin-off business division is in the best hands at WAIYS," explains Nicolas Röhrs, CEO of Cloud&Heat Technologies.
"The spin-off process is an important milestone in the history of Cloud&Heat Technologies and WAIYS, unlocking the potential of both companies and opening up new opportunities for them to become even stronger specialists in their fields," Holm Puder, co-founder and CEO of WAIYS GmbH, tells us.
"As CTO of Cloud&Heat, I have been involved with the realisation of disruptive projects for quite some time and am very pleased that the spin-off of WAIYS will create a company that addresses the implementation of challenging digital infrastructures. I am particularly pleased that there are now two companies in Saxony that are both working on future solutions for the challenges of digital infrastructure," adds Dr Jens Struckmeier, co-founder and managing director of WAIYS GmbH.
About Cloud&Heat Technologies
Green, Open, Efficient - this is the motto of Cloud&Heat Technologies, a Dresden-based cloud service and technology provider. With its vision of holistic, open and sustainable solutions, the company develops and operates scalable digital infrastructures. It specifically focusses on open source software, including on the basis of OpenStack, the open source standard for cloud platforms, in order to bring more transparency to the cloud market. The Dresden-based company is also endeavouring to resolve the conflict between the rapidly growing demand for computing power, e.g. in the areas of deep and machine learning, and sustainability with the help of innovative technologies (use of water-cooled servers and reuse of server waste heat), thereby improving the carbon footprint across all sectors. More information can be found at www.cloudandheat.com
About WAIYS
WAIYS is a Dresden-based start-up founded in 2023 as a spin-off from Cloud&Heat Technologies. Following its motto "We AI the Future!", WAIYS offers complete system solutions consisting of innovative hardware and precisely tailored software solutions for the realisation of challenging applications in the field of artificial intelligence. WAIYS offers these AI infrastructures as server rack solutions and in container format in national and international markets. More information can be found at www.waiys.com
