EcoDataCenter, a Swedish firm that builds eco-friendly information facilities utilized by main compute suppliers to deal with their AI visitors, has raised almost half a billion {dollars} — $478 million (€450 million) to be precise — in anticipation of extra demand.
The fairness funding, which is coming from a bunch of unnamed institutional traders, shall be used to proceed growing new applied sciences for extra “inexperienced” information facilities and to construct these constructions.
The information comes simply two days after one in all EDC’s main clients, the AI compute big CoreWeave, filed for an IPO in america.
EDC has now raised €910 million ($966 million) in fairness to this point. Areim, the holding firm that owns it, declined to say what the corporate’s valuation is. The corporate did affirm that spinning out EDC is just not on the playing cards.
“We’re centered on scaling EcoDataCenter and delivering long-term worth, supported by the sturdy backing of our traders,” mentioned Robert Björk , an funding supervisor for Areim, and board member EcoDataCenter. “Whereas we repeatedly consider strategic alternatives for the corporate, together with potential future financing choices, an IPO is just not one thing we’re actively pursuing at this stage.”
EcoDataCenter’s focus has been to construct information facilities — particularly, colocation areas the place clients herald some or all of their very own servers and associated {hardware} — which can be extra sustainable. It’s a well timed effort: analysis from the International Energy Agency has proven how energy hungry giant information facilities could be.
The IEA has discovered that these information facilities have energy calls for of 100 MW or extra, “with an annual electrical energy consumption equal to the electrical energy demand from round 350,000 to 400,000 electrical automobiles.” The IEA additionally estimated that information facilities collectively account for 1% of all world electrical energy consumption.
In that context, EDC is notable for not simply serving to to fulfill the seemingly insatiable demand for compute capability, however for attempting to do this in an eco-friendly method — one that’s now influencing others.
“We have been the primary firm on this planet to start out constructing in what’s known as cross-laminated timber,” mentioned Peter Michelson EDC’s CEO, in an interview. “Now, Microsoft is following.” EDC additionally makes use of renewable vitality to energy its buildings, and continues to work on new approaches and supplies for extra environment friendly cooling and operations.
EcoDataCenter’s different clients embrace DeepL and the so-called “hyperscalers.” The latter corporations do construct their very own information facilities, however additionally they load steadiness by taking house in these constructed by third events, like EDC.
Whereas it has various clients that stretch exterior of tech reminiscent of BMW, EDC is probably greatest often called the accomplice of CoreWeave. It’s additionally the distinguished internet hosting supplier for a project in collaboration with CoreWeave and Nvidia to construct the primary Blackwell cluster in Europe, within the Swedish city of Falun, designed to deliver extra compute capability to Europe.
The dimensions of EDC’s fundraise highlights how invaluable information facilities — particularly colocation facilities that offset main capex spend for its clients — have develop into within the present hype cycle for AI.
That may be a world surge. Most notably, the U.S. in January introduced Stargate, a $500 billion challenge that the U.S. kicked off with help from OpenAI, SoftBank and others to construct mega AI information facilities. (The plan is barely that at this level: introduced days after Trump took workplace, it served to drive house an idealized image of the brand new administration as not simply tech-friendly, however aggressively so.)
“There’s a whole lot of infrastructure-type capital flooding into the information heart house, on condition that it’s actual property infrastructure now turning into extra tech oriented,” mentioned Michelson.
That actual property anchor may present a clue into how the present administration, and significantly President Trump — whose skilled life began in actual property — have been offered on their very own large information heart effort.
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