Overview
- Firmus secured $505 million led by Coatue with Nvidia participating, valuing the company at $5.5 billion, with the investment reported as subject to closing conditions.
- The company plans to roll out Nvidia’s Vera Rubin DSX design for “AI factories,” which are purpose-built data centers for training and running AI models using dense GPU clusters and liquid immersion cooling.
- Under Project Southgate, Firmus is building renewable-powered capacity starting in Melbourne and Tasmania and says the first Tasmanian stages will host systems based on 36,000 Nvidia accelerators after two deployment waves.
- Firmus says a global hyperscaler has signed on for Southgate but has not named the customer, and it is partnering with CDC Data Centres on the Australian buildout.
- The equity round caps six months in which Firmus raised $1.35 billion and follows a reported $10 billion debt package in February led by Coatue and Blackstone, with reports indicating this is the last private raise before a potential $2 billion ASX IPO.