Firmus is developing a Project Southgate campus in Tasmania (Image: Firmus)
Firmus has secured $505 million in equity investment led by US private equity firm Coatue Management, marking a fresh capital injection for the Australian data centre platform as it scales up to meet hyperscale demand across Asia Pacific.
The equity commitment, with participation from chip giant Nvidia, will support the development of high-performance, sustainable data centre campuses with a focus on Australia’s key connectivity hubs, Firmus said in a release. The company’s Project Southgate is establishing a national network of “AI factories” — purpose-built data centres capable of training and generating artificial intelligence models, using the latest Nvidia architectures.
The new funding follows a $10 billion debt financing package announced in February, led by Blackstone, positioning Firmus with one of the region’s largest capital war chests for digital infrastructure expansion. The deal is expected to bring the Tasmanian startup’s total equity raised to $1.35 billion over the past six months, valuing Firmus at $5.5 billion.
“This investment reinforces Australia’s role in global AI infrastructure while accelerating our Asia Pacific growth strategy,” said Oliver Curtis, co-founder and co-CEO of Firmus. “Project Southgate provides a strong foundation for exporting efficient AI compute globally, and our experience in Singapore gives us a proven blueprint for scaling across Southeast Asia.”
IPO on the Horizon
The equity round comes as Firmus gears up for an initial public offering on the Australian Securities Exchange, with Curtis indicating in comments to the Australian Financial Review in February that an IPO is expected this year.
Firmus co-founder Oliver Curtis (Image: Firmus)
Firmus raised A$500 million in equity in November at a A$6 billion valuation — triple the value achieved in a September round, according to the AFR report, with the company said to be targeting a mid-year ASX debut.
The September placement of A$330 million (then $217 million) included a cornerstone investment by Sydney’s Ellerston Capital and participation from Nvidia. The funds were earmarked to speed development of the Project Southgate flagship — a renewable-powered AI factory in Tasmania with 36,000 Nvidia graphics processing units — to be built in two stages.
Firmus data centres are under construction across multiple Australian sites, with thousands of GPUs planned for deployment, according to the company. Firmus said in February that the debt financing would accelerate deployment to serve hyperscale and AI-native customers worldwide.
The latest deal highlights Manhattan-based Coatue’s expanding footprint in Asia Pacific data centres, following its role earlier this year leading a $2 billion funding round for DayOne, the overseas spinoff of Shanghai-based GDS Holdings. The fresh funds added to the $1.9 billion raised in Singapore-based DayOne’s previous equity rounds in 2024, including from Japan’s SoftBank and Citadel boss Ken Griffin, as the operator reportedly gears up for a US IPO.
Coatue, founded by French financier Philippe Laffont, is betting on AI demand accelerating faster than the infrastructure required to support it.
“Firmus is closing that gap with an energy-efficient AI factory model purpose-built for next-generation compute at a global scale,” said Robert Yin, general partner and head of AI infrastructure at Coatue. “We’re proud to partner with Firmus as they build critical infrastructure for the future of AI.”
Billions for Bit Barns
The equity infusion comes as Australia continues to attract global capital into data centres, supported by stable regulation, strong connectivity and proximity to Asia’s largest digital markets.
La Caisse this week pledged A$1 billion to ASX-listed NextDC, with the Canadian pension fund manager agreeing to take up the full size of the company’s subordinated hybrid securities offer.
In the broader region, Singapore’s Princeton Digital Group has been pursuing a debt raise of up to $5 billion to fund its expansion, building on prior investments by key backers Warburg Pincus and Stonepeak.
Other private-equity-backed platforms are also stepping up activity, with Bain Capital’s Bridge Data Centres outlining plans last month to invest up to $3.9 billion in Singapore.
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