We Are the World’s Leading
Independent Email Provider
Building open, secure Email solutions for more than 20 years.
We Are the World’s Leading Independent Email Provider
Building open, secure Email solutions
for more than 20 years.
OUR VISION
A borderless Internet fueled by independent innovators,
ensuring it remains open, secure, and accessible for everyone.
OUR MISSION
We create and innovate
open-source software-based
solutions that enable our customers
to maximize the value of their
services.
From day one, our philosophy has been to keep the internet free, open, and competitive.
Open-Xchange (OX) has been pioneering email innovation for more than 20 years.
Today, in partnership with many of the world’s leading telcos, hosters, and service providers, more than 220 million people rely on our software every day.
From day one, our philosophy has been clear: to keep the internet free, open, and competitive. We achieve this by building innovative, secure, and open solutions that empower our community, partners, and customers to offer trusted alternatives to the global hyperscalers.
OX App Suite delivers user-friendly, secure premium email and collaboration experiences for both the private and public sector — helping service providers not only retain users, but also unlock new revenue opportunities through differentiated, value-added communication services.
Together with PowerDNS and Dovecot Pro, our portfolio provides robust, scalable DNS and email server solutions that enable customers to grow their business, strengthen their brands, and monetize email as a strategic platform.
Solutions that enable customers to grow their business and their brands.
Solutions that enable customers to grow their business and their brands.
OX App Suite delivers user-friendly, secure premium email and collaboration experiences for both the private and public sector — helping service providers not only retain users, but also unlock new revenue opportunities through differentiated, value-added communication services.
Together with PowerDNS and Dovecot Pro, our portfolio provides robust, scalable DNS and email server solutions that enable customers to grow their business, strengthen their brands, and monetize email as a strategic platform.
At OX, we believe great software is built by small, empowered teams.
As a non-hierarchical cell-based organization, cells operating independently to allow swifter decision-making without traditional hierarchical delays.
This approach encourages innovation, as each cell is closer to the issues it addresses and can respond rapidly to any changes. It also creates a culture of accountability and ownership, as individual colleagues feel directly responsible for the success of both their cell and the company.

Leadership Team
The Leadership Team steers the company’s growth and strategy and ensures all legal and governance responsibilities are met.

Andreas Gauger
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Andreas Gauger has overall responsibility for OX’s strategy, direction and success.

Andreas Gauger
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
OX's CEO Andreas Gauger has been heavily involved in shaping the cloud and hosting market in Germany since the 1990s.
He founded his first software company when he was still at school and, in 1995, was co-founder of the German hosting pioneer Schlund+Partner. From 2000 to 2008, as the board spokesperson, Gauger drove forward the growth of 1&1 to become both the European market leader in hosting and a leading German ISP and telecommunications provider.
In 2010, he co-founded the internationally successful cloud provider ProfitBricks, of which he was CEO until 2016. Since then, he has been supporting investment companies as a consultant in the SaaS environment.

Dirk Valbert
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Dirk Valbert is responsible for Finance, Legal and Corporate services at Open-Xchange.

Dirk Valbert
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Dirk Valbert is responsible for Finance, Legal and Corporate services at Open-Xchange. He is an experienced management and finance professional, with more than 25 years’ experience in the technology industry, and came to Open-Xchange from Swyx Solutions GmbH / Enreach Germany Group, where he was CFO for more than six years.
He was previously CEO of Schauf GmbH and CFO of conVISUAL AG. Before that, he was an Associate at Theron Business Consulting GmbH, after holding Financial Controller and Head of CapEx Controlling roles at Mannesmann Mobilfunk GmbH.

Jacob Fahrenkrug
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER
Jacob Fahrenkrug is responsible for the company's overall technology vision, strategy, and development.

Jacob Fahrenkrug
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER
Jacob Fahrenkrug started his professional career at Hypoport Group, where he took technical responsibility for the mortgage market place in the Netherlands. Following that Jacob became Chief Software Engineer in charge of development and technologies for a business unit of Deutsche Post DHL. In 2014 he joined yetu driving the open Smart Home Platform technologies and was appointed as yetu´s Chief Technology Officer. Jacob worked as Director of Engineering at Fyber leading engineering teams to help them create a more stable ad monetisation platform. He is the Co-Founder of Tektit Consulting, a keen technologist and regular speaker at conferences on technologies, software architecture and agile software development.

Vincent Schönau
CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER
Vincent Schönau is responsible for Sales, Marketing and Communications and org. development at OX.

Vincent Schönau
CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER
Vincent Schönau is responsible for Sales, Marketing and Communications and organizational development at Open-Xchange. His career spans more than 25 years in the internet services technology market and includes a range of senior commercial, technical and leadership roles, working with Telco, Hosting and enterprise customers globally.
Supervisory Board
The Supervisory Board is a mandatory, independent group that oversees and advises the OX Management Board/Leadership Team.
Dr. Paul-Josef Patt
Chairman of the Supervisory Board
Dr. Paul-Josef Patt is CEO of eCAPITAL ENTREPRENEURIAL PARTNERS, a German venture capital company. He started his career as project manager at Roland Berger & Partner, the leading German strategy consultancy. Later he worked for a German retail corporate as Director of Business Development and Strategy. By management buy-in he became the executive partner of a highly expansive retail company with lastly more than 700 branches. After his successful exit, Patt started working as a business angel and venture capitalist. He took over the lead at eCAPITAL in 2004 and has overseen the company’s impressive growth. He has a strong track record in financing and developing Deep Tech and Impact Start ups and as lead investor. Past investments include Novaled (sold to Samsung in 2013), sonnen (sold to Shell in 2019), Jedox (sold to Insight Partners in 2021), Dryad, 1KOMMA5° or Papershift. Patt serves on several boards, including Jedox, Heliatek and beeOLED.
Curt Gunsenheimer
Curt Gunsenheimer, Senior Partner at Iris Capital, joined the company in 2002. He is responsible for investments in late-stage and growth capital across Europe and supports companies across Germany and France in stages of global expansion. Gunsenheimer has twenty years of experience in venture capital and public-market financing of growth technology companies, with particular expertise in the field of software. Prior to joining Iris Capital, he worked at Goldman Sachs and Robertson Stephens.
Patrick Schaudel
Patrick Schaudel, SVP Product at IONOS With many years of experience in the IT and software industry, Patrick is a proven expert for cloud-solutions, e-business and online marketing with focus on the SMB business. At IONOS, he and his teams are responsible for the entire product portfolio for the digital success of companies of all sizes as well as the public sector. In previous positions at companies like BBDO and Haufe Group, he held several positions in B2B marketing and sales as well as product management with the focus on digital transformation.
Katja Speck
Katja Speck is CMO at robo advisor and SaaS provider VisualVest where she is responsible for Innovation, Marketing, Product and Sustainability. Prior to that, she held responsible positions in the tech industry for over 15 years, including General Manager of the non-profit organization ID4me, part of the team of SPRIND - Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation and VP Marketing, Sales and Business Development at international eCommerce specialist asknet. She has been closely networked with the tech scene in Europe, the Americas, and Israel for years and shares her experience as a lecturer at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences. She regularly speaks on innovation and impact topics at renowned conferences such as DLD. In 2019, she was awarded the "InspiringFifty DACH" prize, a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase diversity in the technology industry.
Dr. Joachim Bernecker
OX Timeline
-
2005
Open-Xchange Founded
Rafael Laguna, Frank Hoberg and Martin Kauss founded Open-Xchange AG with headquarters in Olpe and Nuremberg. One year later, Open-Xchange builds a highly scalable SaaS based email and collaboration product for 1&1. This becomes the Open-Xchange Hosting Edition, which is deployed by a number of Hosting and Service providers.
-
2012
OX App Suite Released
Open-Xchange releases the first version of OX App Suite, which becomes today's flagship product. OX App Suite is a feature-rich, web-based groupware solution which replaces Open-Xchange Hosting and Server Edition.
-
2012
OX App Suite Security
Open-Xchange releases OX Guard. This is a highly secure end-user encryption feature for OX App Suite. Utilizing the highly secure PGP standard, combined with outstanding performance features, makes OX Guard amazingly secure, but also extremely simple to use.
-
2015
Dovecot and PowerDNS
After years of working with Dovecot as its IMAP server of choice, Open-Xchange announces a merger with Finland's Dovecot OY. Open-Xchange also announces that it will merge with PowerDNS from The Netherlands, meaning it now has a full stack solution.
-
2016
OX Drive App
Open-Xchange releases its first release of a dedicated, stand-alone native app – the OX Drive App. Open-Xchange also acquires EnoughSoftware to help deliver its mobile strategy.
-
2019
OX Cloud Datacenters EU/US
By 2019 Open-Xchange’s service version of OX App Suite (now called OX Cloud) has become a big success and is in demand from customers in the EU and the US. As a result, Open-Xchange launches more data centers in both the EU and the US.
-
2020
New CEO at Open-Xchange
Rafael Laguna announces he is handing over the running of Open-Xchange to Andreas Gauger, former CEO of 1&1. Andreas’ appointment and his wealth of experience reaffirms Open-Xchange’s commitment to providing excellence in the email market.
-
2022
Launch of OX App Suite 8.0
Open-Xchange releases version 8.0 of its flagship product. This includes a new, redesigned User Interface that is both modern, yet familiar and adheres to the latest design standards, as well as focusing on usability.
-
2022
Launch of OX CMC Control Panel
Open-Xchange releases a new control panel for its OX Cloud service. This is offered free to all customers who can now benefit from this new administration interface. It provides features such as Customer Care services, dashboards, user metrics and much more.
-
2023
OX AI and New Datacenters India
Early in 2023, Open-Xchange announces a new AI integration into its OX App Suite Cloud products. Fully integrated into the User Interface, OX AI utilizes the power of AI to aid and streamline end-user workflow. Due to customer demand and to better support the Africa and APAC regions, Open-Xchange also opens new data centers in India.
-
2024
Embracing a cell based organizational structure
Open-Xchange is reorganized as a non-hierarchical cell structure organization, allowing for swift decision-making and faster response to market changes.
-
The road ahead
Today, Open-Xchange has more than 270 employees in 10 offices around the globe. OX products are used by more than 220 million people at home or at work. Trend: upwards!
2005
Open-Xchange Founded
Rafael Laguna, Frank Hoberg and Martin Kauss founded Open-Xchange AG with headquarters in Olpe and Nuremberg. One year later, Open-Xchange builds a highly scalable SaaS based email and collaboration product for 1&1. This becomes the Open-Xchange Hosting Edition, which is deployed by a number of Hosting and Service providers.
2012
OX App Suite Released
Open-Xchange releases the first version of OX App Suite, which becomes today's flagship product. OX App Suite is a feature-rich, web-based groupware solution which replaces Open-Xchange Hosting and Server Edition.
2012
OX App Suite Security
Open-Xchange releases OX Guard. This is a highly secure end-user encryption feature for OX App Suite. Utilizing the highly secure PGP standard, combined with outstanding performance features, makes OX Guard amazingly secure, but also extremely simple to use.
2015
Dovecot and PowerDNS
After years of working with Dovecot as its IMAP server of choice, Open-Xchange announces a merger with Finland's Dovecot OY. Open-Xchange also announces that it will merge with PowerDNS from The Netherlands, meaning it now has a full stack solution.
2016
OX Drive App
Open-Xchange releases its first release of a dedicated, stand-alone native app – the OX Drive App. Open-Xchange also acquires EnoughSoftware to help deliver its mobile strategy.
2019
OX Cloud Datacenters EU/US
By 2019 Open-Xchange’s service version of OX App Suite (now called OX Cloud) has become a big success and is in demand from customers in the EU and the US. As a result, Open-Xchange launches more data centers in both the EU and the US.
2020
New CEO at Open-Xchange
Rafael Laguna announces he is handing over the running of Open-Xchange to Andreas Gauger, former CEO of 1&1. Andreas’ appointment and his wealth of experience reaffirms Open-Xchange’s commitment to providing excellence in the email market.
2022
Launch of OX App Suite 8.0
Open-Xchange releases version 8.0 of its flagship product. This includes a new, redesigned User Interface that is both modern, yet familiar and adheres to the latest design standards, as well as focusing on usability.
2022
Launch of OX CMC Control Panel
Open-Xchange releases a new control panel for its OX Cloud service. This is offered free to all customers who can now benefit from this new administration interface. It provides features such as Customer Care services, dashboards, user metrics and much more.
2023
OX AI and New Datacenters India
Early in 2023, Open-Xchange announces a new AI integration into its OX App Suite Cloud products. Fully integrated into the User Interface, OX AI utilizes the power of AI to aid and streamline end-user workflow. Due to customer demand and to better support the Africa and APAC regions, Open-Xchange also opens new data centers in India.
2024
Embracing a cell based organizational structure
Open-Xchange is reorganized as a non-hierarchical cell structure organization, allowing for swift decision-making and faster response to market changes.
The road ahead
Today, Open-Xchange has more than 270 employees in 10 offices around the globe. OX products are used by more than 220 million people at home or at work. Trend: upwards!
OX Group of Companies

