Australia’s Firmus announced on Friday it would raise A$500 million ($324.9 million) in a new funding round, as the artificial intelligence company and potential IPO candidate looks to accelerate development of Project Southgate, its AI infrastructure initiative.
The fundraising, the second in two months, was backed by U.S chip giant Nvidia Corp and domestic fund manager Ellerston Capital, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The two investors are already Firmus backers, having participated in earlier fundraising rounds. Firmus and Nvidia declined to comment while Ellerston Capital did not respond to a request for comment.
In September, Firmus closed a A$330 million equity placement, with a cornerstone investment by Ellerston Capital, and participation from Nvidia in a bid to accelerate the development of Project Southgate.
Global firms are pushing for more investment into infrastructure to compute artificial intelligence technologies amid growing demand for AI-related services.
Proceeds from the equity raise will be used by the company to expand site development, infrastructure deployment, and energy deals for AI factories, or data centres, in selected locations across Australia, the company said in a statement.
“With demand for AI infrastructure accelerating, this funding ensures we can meet it quickly, cost-effectively, and in line with Australia’s renewable-energy future,” said Co-CEO Tim Rosenfeld.
Project Southgate is the company‘s initiative to develop infrastructure, which includes data centres, for AI training and inference. The initiative, done in collaboration with CDC Data Centres and Nvidia, is expected to reach a capacity of up to 1.6 gigawatts through 2028.
($1 = 1.5389 Australian dollars)
Reuters
