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Why We Built Stockaj in Switzerland — And Why It Matters for Your Data

· 7 min read
Alexandre Bianchi
Alexandre Bianchi
Creator of Stockaj

When I started building Stockaj, the first real decision wasn't about features, tech stack, or pricing. It was about where the data would live.

That might sound trivial. Most SaaS founders pick AWS us-east-1, call it a day, and move on to building features. But I'm based in Switzerland, and the companies I wanted to serve — event organizers, NGOs, rental businesses across Europe — deserve better than having their operational data stored under a foreign jurisdiction.

The Problem No One Talks About​

Here's something most SaaS marketing pages won't tell you: when you use a US-hosted service, your data is subject to US law — regardless of where you are located.

The CLOUD Act (2018) allows US authorities to compel any US-based company to hand over data stored anywhere in the world. It doesn't matter if your servers are in Frankfurt or Zurich — if the company is American, the data is reachable.

For a festival organizer in Lausanne managing equipment across 3 venues, this might feel abstract. But consider:

  • Your renter database contains personal information (names, addresses, phone numbers) of hundreds of people
  • Your rental history reveals operational patterns of your organization
  • Your financial data (pricing, deposits, invoices) is business-critical
  • Your team data includes employee information

All of this, sitting on a server where a foreign government can request access — without notifying you, without a Swiss court being involved.

Why Switzerland?​

Switzerland isn't just neutral politically. It has some of the strongest data protection laws in the world:

  • Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP/nDSG) — Updated in 2023, it's aligned with GDPR but goes further in certain areas
  • No CLOUD Act equivalent — Swiss authorities cannot compel data handover to foreign governments without going through mutual legal assistance treaties (MLAT), which require judicial review
  • Banking-grade privacy culture — Switzerland's reputation for data protection isn't marketing; it's embedded in the legal system
  • EU adequacy decision — The EU recognizes Switzerland as providing adequate data protection, meaning cross-border data transfers are straightforward

When I chose to host Stockaj on Swiss infrastructure, it wasn't a marketing decision. It was a values decision. Your inventory data, your renters' personal information, your team's activity — it all stays under Swiss jurisdiction.

The Dependency Problem​

Beyond legal jurisdiction, there's a practical dependency issue that European companies face daily.

When your inventory management runs on a US platform:

  • Pricing is in USD — currency fluctuations hit your budget unpredictably
  • Support hours are US-timezone — your morning emergency is their 2 AM
  • Compliance updates follow US priorities — GDPR compliance is an afterthought, not a foundation
  • Outages follow US patterns — when AWS us-east-1 has issues, half the internet goes down, including your critical tools
  • Terms of Service change unilaterally — you accept or you leave, with no negotiation possible

I've seen this firsthand with organizations I've worked with. A festival team preparing for a 3-day event, and their equipment tracking tool goes down because of an AWS outage 6,000 km away. An NGO managing furniture donations for refugee families, locked out of their platform because of a billing dispute resolved only during US business hours.

These aren't hypothetical scenarios. They happen, and they happen to organizations that can least afford downtime.

What We Did Differently​

With Stockaj, every architectural decision reinforces data sovereignty:

  • Swiss hosting — Servers are physically located in Switzerland
  • Swiss company — Stockaj is operated by Nectoria, a Swiss company, under Swiss law
  • No US subprocessors for core data — Your inventory, rentals, and contacts don't transit through US services
  • CHF pricing — Transparent pricing in Swiss Francs, no currency surprise
  • Full data export — CSV, XLSX, PDF — your data is never locked in. You can leave anytime with everything
  • Open API — REST API v2 is fully documented. Your data is accessible programmatically, always
  • European timezone support — We're in the same timezone as our users

Why Infomaniak?​

When it came to choosing a hosting provider, the decision was straightforward. Our infrastructure runs on Infomaniak, a Swiss company founded in 1994 with over 200 employees — all based in Switzerland.

Infomaniak isn't just "a Swiss host." They build and operate their own data centers in Switzerland, develop their software in-house or with open-source technologies like OpenStack and Debian, and their entire operation is governed exclusively by Swiss law — with full GDPR compliance and no exception clauses.

What makes them stand out from a values perspective:

  • 100% renewable energy — All operations run on certified renewable energy, and their data centers are cooled with filtered outside air, without air conditioning
  • Energy recovery — Their newest data center recovers 100% of the energy it consumes to heat up to 6,000 households
  • B Corp & ISO certified — Independently verified commitments to social and environmental standards
  • No data exploitation — They explicitly do not analyze customer data. Your data belongs to you, period
  • 200% carbon offset — All CO2 emissions are measured and offset at double the rate via myclimate.org
  • Equipment longevity — Server lifespans are extended up to 15 years, reducing e-waste
  • Local economy — No outsourcing, no tax optimization schemes, 100% of jobs in Switzerland

For us, choosing Infomaniak wasn't just about server location — it was about partnering with a company that shares our values on data sovereignty, sustainability, and long-term thinking. When we say "Swiss infrastructure," we mean infrastructure built and operated by Swiss engineers, powered by renewable energy, under Swiss law.

This Isn't Anti-American​

Let me be clear: this isn't about being against US technology. The tools built in Silicon Valley are extraordinary. React (which powers our kiosk app), Laravel, Tailwind CSS — we use American open-source tools every day and we're grateful for them.

But there's a difference between using open-source tools (which you control) and trusting a US corporation with your operational data (which you don't control).

The question isn't "are US tools bad?" — it's "who should have jurisdiction over your business data?"

For a Swiss NGO managing furniture loans for vulnerable families, the answer should be Swiss courts, not a CLOUD Act subpoena.

The Real Cost of "Free"​

Many organizations start with a free US-hosted tool. It works great — until it doesn't:

  • The free tier gets restricted
  • Prices increase without notice (in USD)
  • Data export becomes a paid feature
  • The company gets acquired and the product changes direction
  • A data breach exposes your renters' personal information under a legal framework you can't influence

With Stockaj, the Free plan is genuinely free — 50 items, 20 rentals/month, forever. No credit card, no time limit. And if you ever want to leave, your data exports are always available, on every plan.

We believe that if a platform is good enough, you'll choose to upgrade because it adds value — not because you're trapped.

Building for the Long Term​

Stockaj isn't a VC-backed moonshot trying to "disrupt" inventory management. It's a sustainable, bootstrapped product built to serve European organizations for decades.

That means:

  • No pressure to grow at all costs
  • No investor demanding we sell to a US company
  • No incentive to monetize your data
  • No risk of a pivot that abandons our core users

When a festival manager in Geneva or an NGO coordinator in Neuchâtel opens Stockaj, they're using a tool built by someone who understands their context — the languages they speak, the regulations they follow, the timezone they work in.

Try It Yourself​

If data sovereignty matters to your organization — and it should — create a free account and see for yourself.

Your data stays in Switzerland. Your exports are always free. And if you ever want to leave, you take everything with you.

That's not a feature. That's a promise.

Alexandre Bianchi is the creator of Stockaj and founder of Nectoria, based in Switzerland. Got questions about data hosting or compliance? Contact us.