· ENThe choice
When we have two quotes on the table and the European one is the more expensive, we go with the European one. The tax stays here, the jobs stay here, and support answers in our own time zone.
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European supply chain
Built with Europe
From day one we have chosen European suppliers — even when a cheaper alternative exists on the other side of the world. This is not a marketing campaign: it is a decision we make again with every purchase, and one that sometimes costs us money.
The criteria
We give priority to companies headquartered in the European Union that invoice and pay tax in the EU and host data on European soil. When a component is not manufactured in Europe, we buy it from whoever distributes it from Europe.
The proof
Every company on this page has given written permission for us to mention their name. We do not list anyone who has not yet replied to us.
Suppliers
Who powers SCApp
The list grows as we receive permission from each company.
Infrastructure and Cloud1
DE
Munich, Germany
Cloud hosting and server infrastructure
Contabo is our trusted European provider for cloud hosting and high-performance server infrastructure. Headquartered in Germany, Contabo powers our backend operations within the European Union, ensuring robust security, exceptional reliability, ultra-low latency and full GDPR compliance for our network of payment terminals.
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✓ Mention authorised
More suppliers soon
We are contacting the remaining suppliers in our chain. Each one appears on this page as soon as they authorise the mention of their name.
Digital sovereignty
What runs underneath
Choosing European suppliers is half the job. The other half is choosing technology with a home in Europe. Here is what holds the system up from the inside — and where each project is based, including the one that is not in the European Union.
Machine communication
Eclipse Mosquitto
Carries every start command from the server to the board inside the washing machine. It is the nerve of the installation: if it stops, nothing starts. The project is maintained by the Eclipse Foundation, which established itself as a Belgian association precisely in the name of European digital sovereignty.
European Union
BE
Brussels, Belgium
Eclipse Foundation AISBL
Database
MariaDB
Holds the transactions, balances, machines and customers of every laundry. It was born in Finland, created by the original authors of MySQL after that was bought by an American company.
European Union
FI
Espoo, Finland
MariaDB Corporation Ab
Operating system
Ubuntu Server LTS
Runs on the server and on the computers inside the payment terminals. Canonical is British — Europe, but outside the European Union. We say so because it is true, and because a list that only showed the convenient parts would be worth nothing.
Europe, outside the EU
GB
London, United Kingdom
Canonical Ltd.
There are no written authorisations in this section — and, unlike the suppliers above, none are required. These projects' trademark guidelines expressly allow their names to be used to describe the technology in use, provided no sponsorship or commercial relationship is implied. That is why you will find no logos here: when a project does expressly authorise us to mention it, it carries the same badge we give our suppliers.
Why we are strict in one case and not the other
With a hosted service, the supplier's jurisdiction decides everything: who can demand the data, under which law, and without even telling us. That is why hosting has to be European, no exceptions. With free software it is the opposite: it runs on our own machines, the code is there for anyone who wants to read it, and the keys are ours. The nationality of whoever writes it does not take our control away. That is why we insist on the European Union for hosting and do not turn it into dogma for the operating system.
Eclipse Mosquitto™ is a trademark of Eclipse Foundation AISBL. MariaDB® is a trademark of MariaDB Corporation Ab. Ubuntu® is a trademark of Canonical Ltd. None of these organisations sponsors, endorses or has any relationship with SCApp: this list is simply a factual description of the technology we use.
Transparency note
What we claim — and what we do not
SCApp is assembled in Portugal. The boards are soldered and put together by us, by hand, one at a time. That is what gives the finished product European origin: under European Union rules, a product's origin is the country where the last substantial transformation takes place — not the country of each part that goes into it.
What we do not claim is that every component is manufactured in Europe. Some of the electronics, such as the processor, are produced in Asia, as is the case across virtually the entire global industry. What we do claim is verifiable: the assembly is ours and it happens in Portugal, and we choose to buy from European companies that employ people in Europe and pay taxes in Europe.
Talk to us
A payment terminal built here for European laundromats
If you run a self-service laundry and want to understand how SCApp works, get in touch. We answer during European hours.
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