EcoDataCenter, a Swedish firm that builds eco-friendly information facilities utilized by main compute suppliers to deal with their AI visitors, has raised practically 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, might be used to proceed creating new applied sciences for extra “inexperienced” information facilities and to construct these buildings.
The information comes simply two days after certainly one of EDC’s main clients, the AI compute large CoreWeave, filed for an IPO in america.
EDC has now raised €910 million ($966 million) in fairness thus far. Areim, the holding firm that owns it, declined to say what the corporate’s valuation is. The corporate did verify that spinning out EDC just isn’t on the playing cards.
“We’re targeted on scaling EcoDataCenter and delivering long-term worth, supported by the robust backing of our traders,” stated Robert Björk , an funding supervisor for Areim, and board member EcoDataCenter. “Whereas we constantly consider strategic alternatives for the corporate, together with potential future financing choices, an IPO just isn’t one thing we’re actively pursuing at this stage.”
EcoDataCenter’s focus has been to construct information facilities — particularly, colocation areas the place clients usher in some or all of their very own servers and associated {hardware} — which are extra sustainable. It’s a well timed effort: analysis from the Worldwide Power Company has proven how energy hungry massive information facilities may 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 making an attempt to try this in an eco-friendly method — one that’s now influencing others.
“We had been the primary firm on the earth to begin constructing in what’s known as cross-laminated timber,” stated Peter Michelson EDC’s CEO, in an interview. “Now, Microsoft is following.” EDC additionally makes use of renewable power to energy its buildings, and continues to work on new approaches and supplies for extra environment friendly cooling and operations.
EcoDataCenter’s different clients embody DeepL and the so-called “hyperscalers.” The latter firms do construct their very own information facilities, however additionally they load stability by taking area in these constructed by third events, like EDC.
Whereas it has plenty of clients that reach exterior of tech resembling BMW, EDC is probably greatest often called the accomplice of CoreWeave. It’s additionally the outstanding internet hosting supplier for a mission in collaboration with CoreWeave and Nvidia to construct the primary Blackwell cluster in Europe, within the Swedish city of Falun, designed to convey extra compute capability to Europe.
The dimensions of EDC’s fundraise highlights how useful information facilities — particularly colocation facilities that offset main capex spend for its clients — have turn 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 mission that the U.S. kicked off with assist from OpenAI, SoftBank and others to construct mega AI information facilities. (The plan is just that at this level: introduced days after Trump took workplace, it served to drive dwelling an idealized image of the brand new administration as not simply tech-friendly, however aggressively so.)
“There’s plenty of infrastructure-type capital flooding into the information heart area, on condition that it’s actual property infrastructure now turning into extra tech oriented,” stated Michelson.
That actual property anchor might present a clue into how the present administration, and notably President Trump — whose skilled life began in actual property — had been offered on their very own huge information heart effort.
