EcoDataCenter, a Swedish firm that builds eco-friendly knowledge 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 gaggle of unnamed institutional buyers, shall be used to proceed creating new applied sciences for extra “inexperienced” knowledge facilities and to construct these constructions.
The information comes simply two days after considered one of EDC’s main prospects, the AI compute large CoreWeave, filed for an IPO in the USA.
EDC has now raised €910 million ($966 million) in fairness so 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 is just not on the playing cards.
“We’re targeted on scaling EcoDataCenter and delivering long-term worth, supported by the sturdy backing of our buyers,” 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 is just not one thing we’re actively pursuing at this stage.”
EcoDataCenter’s focus has been to construct knowledge facilities — particularly, colocation areas the place prospects herald some or all of their very own servers and associated {hardware} — which might be extra sustainable. It’s a well timed effort: analysis from the Worldwide Power Company has proven how energy hungry giant knowledge facilities might be.
The IEA has discovered that these knowledge 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 vehicles.” The IEA additionally estimated that knowledge 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 the earth to begin constructing in what’s referred to 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 prospects embrace DeepL and the so-called “hyperscalers.” The latter corporations do construct their very own knowledge facilities, however additionally they load stability by taking house in these constructed by third events, like EDC.
Whereas it has quite a few prospects that stretch exterior of tech equivalent to BMW, EDC is maybe finest referred to as the accomplice of CoreWeave. It’s additionally the distinguished internet hosting supplier for a challenge 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 scale of EDC’s fundraise highlights how worthwhile knowledge facilities — particularly colocation facilities that offset main capex spend for its prospects — have turn into within the present hype cycle for AI.
That could be a world surge. Most notably, the U.S. in January introduced Stargate, a $500 billion challenge that the U.S. kicked off with assist from OpenAI, SoftBank and others to construct mega AI knowledge facilities. (The plan is barely that at this level: introduced days after Trump took workplace, it served to drive residence an idealized image of the brand new administration as not simply tech-friendly, however aggressively so.)
“There’s numerous infrastructure-type capital flooding into the info heart house, on condition that it’s actual property infrastructure now turning into extra tech oriented,” stated Michelson.
That actual property anchor may present a clue into how the present administration, and notably President Trump — whose skilled life began in actual property — have been bought on their very own massive knowledge heart effort.
