SAN FRANCISCO — German internet services provider Ionos has handed its US PR business to Bospar, which is charged with boosting awareness of the company’s cloud computing business.

Bospar won the business following a 15-agency pitch. Ionos used to work with Weber Shandwick in the US, though it has not had a US PR agency for the past 2 ½ years.  Weber Shandwick, however, still handles Ionos’ PR in Europe except for its German cloud business, which belongs to WE.

Bospar’s remit includes positioning Ionos as a trusted cloud computing services provider for small businesses. The partnership started early this summer.

Ionos PR head Andreas Maurer said the company started its search for an integrated comms agency last year after adding cloud computing services to its offerings and a recent rebranding. Ionos entered the US market as a web hosting company roughly 20 years ago.

“In the pitch, Curtis and his team at Bospar convinced us with both their track record in the tech industry and innovative ideas. After three months, we are very happy with the first results of our collaboration,” Maurer said.

Based in Montabaur, Germany, Ionos launched as 1&1 in 1988 as a web hosting company serving small and medium-sized businesses and expanded to the US in 2003. The company merged with cloud infrastructure company ProfitBricks in 2018, adding a new segment of offerings to its portfolio, and formally changed its name to Ionis in 2000.