The founders of Kernkonzept have been developing the L4Re microkernel, the L4Re userland components and the software platform since the 1990s, initially as students and employees of TU Dresden. Kernkonzept was spun off in 2012. Soon, not only IT experts but also OEM manufacturers were interested in the promising open source software. Since 2018, Kernkonzept has been active in the European Processor Initiative (EPI) with the L4Re Operating System, making it part of an international research community dedicated to European digital sovereignty. Today, the company has 30 employees and provides security for e.g. automotive software, for authorities with high-security requirements and for cloud infrastructures.

The L4Re Operating System Framework is the most advanced capability-based operating system on the market - and the only certifiable open source hypervisor. Based on the L4 microkernel, L4Re is more than the sum of its parts. It consists of a framework and an operating system. The parts of the framework are generic and follow the multipurpose approach, i.e. they can be used for different use cases.