Seb de Lemos didn’t mean to start one of the world’s fastest-growing hosting companies. Like many in the industry, he began at home, “playing around with computers in my parents’ house” as he says. What started as a teenage experiment eventually became a global brand managing millions of websites: World Host Group.
How it all started
In the early 2000s, shared hosting was booming. Seb, then a teenager, launched small brands like VitaHost and TSOHost, which grew into Paragon Internet Group. “We kind of just accidentally grew into a great little business,” he says. Paragon was later sold to Host Europe and then acquired by GoDaddy. Seb stayed briefly but soon felt the itch to return.
“Two weeks after retiring, I was already bored” Seb laughs. “I missed Sunday mornings with coffee, checking on customer support“.
That familiar feeling led him to build again. He launched Stablepoint, then the WordPress support brand fixed.net. Eventually, hosting returned to the spotlight, and Seb started World Host Group. Today, the group includes over 30 brands, employs 900+ people, and serves more than 2.5 million websites.
A brand with a plan
In 2025, World Host Group made a bold move: launching hosting.com. To some, this may sound like just another domain. But to Seb and his team, it’s much more than a good name. It’s the foundation of a new kind of hosting business.
“We’re not building a typical hosting hub” Seb explains. “We’re building an ecosystem“.
Hosting.com aims to be a central platform for small businesses around the world. The team wants to offer more than just infrastructure. They want to offer tools that help people run and grow their businesses: domains, email, websites, security, analytics, and easy support. Everything in one place.
“We want to be your most trusted business partner” Seb says. “Not just a place to buy cPanel. We want to support your success“.
This is also about scale. With over 30 brands under its umbrella, World Host Group can test and learn from many markets at once. Hosting.com becomes the place where the best practices from those brands come together. A unified product that still feels local to users everywhere. Hosting.com isn’t just another hosting platform — it reflects a deeper shift in how modern hosting companies see their role. It’s no longer about offering space on a server; it’s about helping small businesses thrive in the digital world. That mindset, where technology becomes a partner in growth, is what may truly separate hosting.com from its competitors.
Standing out from the giants
Two global players dominate the hosting conversation: GoDaddy and Hostinger. They have years of brand recognition, global reach, and massive marketing machines. But Seb doesn’t shy away from the challenge. “Their brands are strong. We have to do the work. We have to understand our customers better than they do“.
What sets hosting.com apart, Seb believes, is its focus on building meaningful relationships. “We don’t just want people to buy something from us once. We want them to stay. To trust us. To grow with us.“
The project is built around this idea of loyalty and long-term value. It’s not just about putting servers online. It’s about creating a product that feels consistent and personal, no matter where the customer is.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a florist in Manchester or a bakery in Lagos” Seb says. “You should feel like hosting.com was built for you“.
That vision requires more than just good technology. It takes support, language, local insight, and clear communication. Seb’s team is investing in all of those areas. “We’re building a global platform that feels local everywhere“. In today’s saturated market, most hosting companies compete on price or server specs. What makes hosting.com different is its ambition to build emotional trust and long-term loyalty. It treats customers not as transactions, but as partners. That shift—from service provider to business enabler—might be the key to staying relevant in the next decade of hosting.
Keeping the startup spirit
Despite the scale, Seb keeps the culture personal. Offices are spread globally, but values remain tight-knit. “We don’t have politics here” he says. “People help each other. We share knowledge. We move fast. And we care about getting things done“
The company still runs with the energy of a startup. Decisions are made quickly. Teams are trusted. Ambitious people are given room to grow. Seb explains “If someone wants to prove themselves, they will get the chance“.
And growth means opportunity. “We can take people who never saw many career options and give them amazing ones. We’ve seen team members grow into leaders because they were given the freedom and responsibility to own their work.“
This openness extends to acquisitions, too. World Host Group doesn’t just buy polished companies. “We love buying businesses with solvable problems” Seb says. “If we can fix it, we can grow it. Sometimes it’s messy—maybe they have old infrastructure, maybe the billing system is outdated—but we know how to handle that“.
Seb believes that people, not just tech, are the biggest asset in each acquisition. “If the people are passionate and willing to work with us, that’s gold. The rest we can fix“. This approach reflects a deeper belief that company culture scales only when trust and responsibility scale with it. In a time when many fast-growing companies struggle to retain identity, World Host Group shows that clarity in values and openness to imperfection can become real competitive advantages.
The long game
For Seb, hosting.com is more than a business venture. It’s a return to roots with a view to the future. “There’s still so much to do in hosting. People think it’s dead. Nonsense. There are still millions of businesses coming online,” he insists.
What excites Seb is not just the technical side, but the role hosting plays in enabling new ideas. “Look at countries like Nigeria or Brazil. There are hundreds of millions of people, and still so many without a real online presence. That’s the opportunity”. At the same time, Seb believes hosting must evolve. “It can’t just be about selling cPanel plans anymore. We have to offer value. We have to support business creation“.
World Host Group is investing not only in infrastructure, but also in simplifying onboarding, improving customer education, and offering tools tailored to local markets. “We’re building for the long term. Hosting.com isn’t about quick wins. It’s about becoming the go-to place for people starting something new online“.
As the hosting world matures, so do its players. But sometimes, the most ambitious projects begin in the most casual places: like a teenager’s bedroom with a slow computer and a curious mind. Now, that same curiosity is powering one of the boldest moves in modern hosting.
This article is based on an episode of Konrad’s Corner Podcast with Seb de Lemos, founder and CEO of World Host Group.
