A 3-time honouree on the Financial Times Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies list has a new owner. Germany-based IT consulting and cloud solutions firm evoila has acquired Routed, one of South Africa’s specialist enterprise cloud providers.
The deal expands evoila’s footprint into Africa, where demand for data centre and cloud infrastructure is accelerating. Routed operates VMware Cloud Foundation-as-a-Service (VCFaaS) platforms from South Africa and will now operate under the evoila brand.
“When we enter foreign markets, we focus on three core strengths: industry experience, reputation, and technological skill,” Johannes Hiemer, CEO of evoila, said. “Routed has delivered VCFaaS for many years and built a powerful team, and we have found a partner who represents our values and shares our ambition to grow.”
Hiemer said evoila is building “a global network of cloud providers operating on the same technology stack and able to compete with hyperscalers in a unique manner.” Routed’s VMware Cloud Verified hosted platform will form part of that global blueprint, he added.
Leadership team stays on
Andrew Cruise, managing director of Routed, said the company was “built to address a clear gap in the market: dependable, sovereign, enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure delivered with engineering excellence and predictable economics.”
“As part of evoila, we can amplify that mission, expand our reach, and position the company as a true centre of cloud excellence within a global ecosystem of solution architects,” Cruise added.
Cruise, along with Lee Syse and Benjamin Coetzer, will remain in their current roles. The combined organisation will operate as one team.
Sovereign cloud push in Africa
The acquisition follows a pattern of international firms investing in South African data infrastructure. In 2022, Digital Realty acquired a 55% stake in Teraco, the continent’s largest data centre operator. More recently, AFRICLOUD established a data centre presence in Lisbon, Portugal to serve African enterprise clients.
Lars Göbel, chief commercial officer at evoila, said the company’s “hyperlocal VCF-as-a-Service solution” enables providers to deliver enterprise-grade cloud “reliably, at scale and with transparent, predictable economics.”
“We are rolling out this model with selected partners in key markets and continuously expanding it with further initiatives like this one,” Göbel said.
Cruise said clients and partners “can expect the same people, the same expertise — now bolstered and further enriched by evoila’s skills and services.”
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