STORY: The shares of the web host and cloud provider I onos started on Wednesday at 18 euros 40 and thus below their issue price. Company boss Achim Weiß, who opened trading with the traditional ringing of the stock exchange bell, was nevertheless confident. He is certain that the price will reach the right level in the long term. “The urge to digitize and the boost in the economy is great. Small and medium-sized businesses and medium-sized companies need more cloud, they need more digitization in order to be able to compete. And of course we are the right partner for that, with the capability to accomplish that.” Ionos is the world’s largest IPO so far in 2023, as calculated by the experts at the consulting firm EY. However, the year got off to a weak start. Since the beginning of January, 77 companies have collected just $2.55 billion. Ionos sees itself as the market leader in Europe for web hosting for small and medium-sized companies. The lion’s share of revenue comes from subscriptions. Sales, which were 1.1 billion euros in 2021, should increase by 15 to 18 percent last year.