- Hosterion’s acquisition by a foreign group highlights risks to domestic digital autonomy and local hosting ecosystems.
- Regional stakeholders urge reforms to safeguard independent providers and strengthen European digital sovereignty.
Romanian hosting firm at a crossroads
Hosterion, a Cluj-Napoca-based web hosting and domain services provider with over 18 years in the market, has long been a staple of local digital infrastructure. The company offers a range of services including web hosting, managed VPS and dedicated servers across data centres in Romania, London, Amsterdam and the United States, and touts features such as IPv6 support, premium DNS and 99.9% uptime.
Founded in 2004 as Elvsoft, the company rebranded to Hosterion in 2016 to reflect its specialised focus on hosting, and over the years built a client base of well over ten thousand customers across multiple countries.
Acquisition highlights growing centralisation
In mid-2025, Hosterion was acquired by cyber_Folks, a larger hosting and technology group with ambitions to expand across Central and Eastern Europe. The transaction, valued at approximately €6.7 million, signals a broader consolidation trend in the regional hosting market where larger players absorb smaller independent providers to achieve scale and streamline services.
While consolidation can bring investment and infrastructure upgrades, it also raises concerns about regional autonomy in digital infrastructure. Independent providers like Hosterion have historically served local businesses with tailored support and strong ties to domestic markets. As larger foreign groups expand, the risk is that decision-making and strategic control shift away from local communities and into distant corporate offices.
Also read: Find more about Hosterion
Also read: Anycast DNS hosting
Threats to digital sovereignty and autonomy
For countries like Romania and the wider Central and Eastern European region, digital autonomy is tied to control over hosting infrastructure, data residency and technical expertise. When local champions are absorbed into larger foreign entities, there is a risk that strategic priorities — such as support for regional tech ecosystems, compliance with local regulation and responsiveness to national digital agendas — may be deprioritised.
Critics argue that this trend is not unique to hosting, but part of a broader pattern where international consolidation in cloud, data centre and internet services can weaken regional governance and market diversity. Smaller providers that once catered directly to local needs may find themselves compelled to adapt to global corporate strategies that emphasise scale over localised service. The acquisition of Hosterion underscores this tension.
Calls for stronger regional frameworks
In response, industry stakeholders and digital autonomy advocates have called for targeted reforms. These include creating frameworks that protect independent service providers, improving access to capital for local tech firms, and establishing clear policies that encourage regional data sovereignty.
Such measures aim to balance the benefits of investment and technological advancement with the need to maintain competitive, locally grounded digital ecosystems. Advocates stress that reliance on foreign-controlled infrastructure can expose economies to external policy shifts and reduce resilience.
