Market consolidation and the journey of Yourhosting

Koen van Deudekom, General Manager Presence at Your.
Online and former CEO of Yourhosting, shares his perspective on market consolidation and the evolution of Yourhosting. Strategic acquisitions and partnerships provide former business owners and entrepreneurs with flexibility, while best practice sharing and innovations from various segments continue to create long-term value.

Key messages

• Market consolidation has led to economies of scale and specialization, strengthening competitive positioning.
• For entrepreneurs, every transaction offers choice through tailored deal structures, from full exit to staying involved and realizing future value.
• Shared expertise, best-practice sharing and value creation initiatives drive innovation and growth opportunities.
• Learnings from the Presence segment and Your.
  Online’s other areas such as Performance & Trust enhance market positioning.

The story of Yourhosting

Few people have witnessed the evolution of the hosting landscape over the past decade as closely as Koen van Deudekom. In 2014, he was appointed CEO of Argeweb, which later became part of Yourhosting. More than ten years later, Koen was named General Manager of the Presence segment at Your.
Online. Now, he reflects on his role as CEO of Yourhosting and the consolidation that has shaped the industry over the past decade.

The first and second wave

According to Koen, the wave of consolidation that began around 2014 was a logical step in the web hosting industry.

Many entrepreneurs launched their businesses from their attics around the turn of the millennium and experienced remarkable growth in the following years. This was driven in part by the increasing availability of domain names for individuals and the rising demand for websites among businesses. After about 15 years, as the market became more saturated and growth began to slow down, these entrepreneurs faced a choice: should I continue to grow, innovate, and invest independently, or is it – given the growing importance of economies of scale – better to join forces with others?

This same question still arises in conversations with entrepreneurs today, more than a decade after that initial consolidation wave. Many of them chose to continue independently back then, but now, roughly 25 years after they started, they are reconsidering their options.

The European web hosting market has matured from a growth market into a more competitive, displacement-driven market. In most countries, the total market size has stabilized, and growth now primarily comes from pricing strategies or specialization. As a result, growth has become more expensive: increased marketing efforts, higher investments in product development, and rising vendor pricing have put pressure on margins.

Defining best and bad practices

No one has all the answers from the start, and Your.
Online has also learned through experience what works – and what doesn’t – within the Presence segment. Reflecting on his experience within Yourhosting and from his current role as General Manager overseeing over ten companies in the Presence segment, Koen shares:

There’s no single playbook that applies to every brand. We always start by carefully assessing the market position, customer proposition, strengths and legacy of each company. Together with the entrepreneur or managing director, we define what creates the most value – whether that means optimizing internal operations, unlocking growth potential, or preserving a stand-alone approach. For example, Loading in Spain became part of Axarnet – one of Your.
Online’s Spanish platforms – but retained full autonomy and continues to grow independently. The same applies to o2switch in France, which continues to operate as a stand-alone business and has successfully accelerated its own strategic and growth trajectory. Regardless of the setup, we consistently share best practices learned across the group, tailored to each specific context.

Nothing is mandatory, everything is possible

While Your.
Online is often seen as a typical consolidator, the reality is more nuanced. As part of Your.
World, Your.
Online was founded by Strikwerda Investments, which follows a buy-and-hold-forever strategy. This offers entrepreneurs within the group far greater security and long-term opportunities. Koen explains:

Within the Presence segment of Your.
Online, we have seen all kinds of variations. Entrepreneurs benefit from an initial exit and then in most cases stay on for a second round of value creation. While many sellers choose to stay involved, we provide flexibility in our deal structuring to ensure the best fitting deal for all parties. This is only possible because we are in it for the long term and can provide absolute certainty that we won’t sell the business to a competitor or a short-term investor. Some early entrepreneurs, like Yourhosting founder