German Firm Eyes U.S. Linux Server Market

Collax, a German company with new venture capital to back its Linux server technology, said Thursday that it is planning to expand in the U.S. after establishing a base in Germany. The firm said its flagship product will be a preconfigured Linux server called the Collax Business Server, which has had a user base of nearly 7,000 “in its previous incarnation”, the firm said.

The firm is a spin-off of Pyramid Computer GmbH, which is transferring its open source technology to Collax. Venture capital firms Wellington Partners of Germany and Atlas Venture have invested five million Euros in the venture. Atlas has offices in Boston.

Collax’ management team includes CTO Boris Nalbach who previously was Novell’s vice president of Linux strategy, and before that worked at open source software firm SuSe.

Collax offers a software license for 1,300 Euros that covers up to 50 connected workstations.