About PawHost
Learn more about us and our team
Hosting born from passion – and grown through experience.
PawHost isn't a project from a business plan. PawHost was born from curiosity, a passion for technology, and many nights where servers didn't just run – they were understood.
The roots of PawHost go back further than the name suggests. As early as 2016, Jan Smyrek and Martin Becker were experimenting with running their own game servers at a young age. What started as a hobby quickly became serious: performance, stability, and fair prices were already more important than quick profits.
How it all began
For several years, this hosting ran on a small scale – pragmatic, direct, and with a lot of personal commitment. Classic "bedroom hosting," but with standards that went beyond the usual.
Over time, the pure game server offering evolved into additional products: web hosting, VPS, and the first custom client solutions.
Evolution, Pause, and New Paths
When Martin moved to Hamburg for his apprenticeship as a software developer, things changed. The project continued as a side business – not as a luxury, but as a foundation: it financed daily life, a small apartment, meals with colleagues, and above all, valuable practical experience.
At the same time, Jan temporarily stepped back to focus on his own career path. At this point, the project wasn't a company with a growth curve – but a solid foundation waiting for the right moment.
Our Milestones
The Founding of PawHost
Together with Joel Finnern, Jan officially founded PawHost – right in the middle of the Corona pandemic. While many hesitated, a new opportunity emerged for hosting providers: digital projects, game servers, and online services were booming. PawHost struck a nerve – not through aggressive marketing, but through reliability, honesty, and customer proximity.
From Rented Servers to Own Infrastructure
The first own server was installed in a data center. No more purely rented hardware – but real responsibility for performance, hardware, and operations. Own infrastructure, more control, higher quality standards.
Growth with Substance
Strong focus on supporting business customers. Not anonymous, not automated, but with a direct contact person and genuine technical understanding.
Expansion and Team Growth
We expanded our inventory with several additional servers. The team continues to grow and new expertise joins us.
Own Network & ASN
A major milestone: Own routing, own ASN and completely own network technology – we're now connected to the internet with BGP routing. Plus expansion of the network team for even more expertise.
An Extremely Successful Year
New website, significantly more marketing campaigns with our own advent calendar, PawHost mug and much more – pushing us to the edge of our hardware capacities. Time for the next step.
What Makes PawHost Today
Our principles for first-class hosting
Technical Depth Instead of Empty Promises
We understand what we offer – down to the last detail. No marketing buzzwords, just real know-how.
Direct Communication Instead of Ticket Loops
With us, you talk to people who understand your concern and can solve it.
Infrastructure We Operate Ourselves
Our own hardware, our own servers, our own responsibility. We know every rack personally.
A Team That Takes Responsibility
No anonymous support staff, but experts who stand behind their work.
We grow deliberately. We don't sell anything we wouldn't operate ourselves. And we believe that good hosting can be personal.
Board & Management
Our executives are responsible for the strategic direction and operational management of the company.
Jan Smyrek
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Founder
Administration, strategic direction and corporate management
Joel Smyrek
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Co-Founder
Financial planning, controlling and operational support
Jonas Bootsmann
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Overall responsibility for hardware infrastructure, data centers and physical platform architecture
Martin Becker
Head of Legal Affairs &
Head of Software Engineering
Responsible for legal affairs, contracts as well as software and platform development leadership
PawHost is a sole proprietorship, led by Jan Smyrek.
Our Departments
Specialized teams working together with passion and expertise.
Jonas Bootsmann
Lead Infrastructure & Hardware Architect
Planning and implementation of hardware, server and data center architecture
Pepe R.
Network Security Engineer
Network security, monitoring and security optimization
Joel Finnern
Co-Founder
IT Specialist for System Integration
Martin Becker
Head of Software Engineering
Technical leadership of web, panel and platform development
Julian W.
Software Engineer
Web and software development
Adrian H.
System Engineer
Application and server management
Tobias J.
Finance & Accounting
Accounting and finance-related administrative tasks
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Non-binding consultation by our team. We are happy to answer all your questions.
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