Compute North, a key player in sustainable, large-scale computing infrastructure, has announced that it has finalized its growth capital round of $385 million, “comprised of $85 million in the initial Series C equity closing, co-led by Mercuria and Generate Capital with additional investors including National Grid Partners, and $300 million in debt financing from Generate to fund new projects.”
Galaxy Digital, a tech-focused financial services and investment management company spanning the digital assets sector, advised the firm on the equity financing. This investment continues “to cement Compute North as the premier leader in TIER 0™ computing infrastructure and will support the continued development of new U.S.-based data centers, expanding capacity and enabling further growth.”
This round expanded the ecosystem of strategic investors “to include stakeholders aligned around the company’s strategic vision in energy transition, sustainability, and innovation,” according to a release.
Compute North is meeting the steady demand for scalable, cost-effective digital infrastructure solutions for specialized computing requirements. The firm is “redefining how services are delivered with a consistent yet interruptible load profile, creating a unique and important relationship with power providers to support the development of an intelligent grid that relieves congestion, promotes renewables, and strengthens the stability of local power markets by expanding demand response capabilities.”
Timothy Hood, Head of Mercuria’s renewable energy trading, stated:
“We are thrilled to partner with Compute North as they execute their market leading strategy of providing high-quality, low-cost hosting services while simultaneously focusing on decarbonizing the electric supply. Combining intermittent resources with the flexibility of TIER 0™ hosting allows Compute North to deliver highly competitive solutions for its increasingly diverse customer base.”
Andrew Marino, senior managing director and head of corporate private equity at Generate, remarked:
“Data centers are a growing part of energy demand and we’re excited to invest with Compute North to build digital infrastructure that can operate sustainably and efficiently while complementing a more resilient grid. The Compute North team is at the leading edge of sustainable innovation in flexible data centers and we’re excited to be partnering with them on projects that use less energy, create economic benefits and work in tandem with renewables.”
As noted in the update, Compute North is expanding its presence “with the development of new facilities in the US including Nebraska, North Carolina and Texas.” By focusing on their goal, the firm is working to “accelerate the energy transition and evolve the data center market to create an efficient platform for computing needs.”
Highlights include:
- Promoting sustainable power and renewable growth – Compute North is partnering with the world’s most recognized energy companies to leverage wind, solar, and carbon-free assets for its facilities.
- Energy efficiency at the heart of company operations – Compute North develops and operates data centers with the highest energy efficiency standards. With an average PUE of 1.04, the TIER 0™ facilities are approximately 41% more efficient than a typical tier 3 data center.
- Smart and sustainable data centers – Compute North data centers follow a sustainable life-cycle approach that integrates energy efficiency, clean energy mix and opportunities for on-site renewable consumption.
- Water Positive – Using a modular data center approach facilities have a limited footprint, enabling a water to permeate the ground between each container and with an air-cooled design operate with zero water consumption.
Brian A. Falik, CIO at Mercuria, said:
“We are extremely honored to support Compute North in their extensive build-out of digital infrastructure solutions, and to lead this important equity capital raise. The inherent understanding of how to work collaboratively with power providers in support of developing an intelligent grid, while still providing cost effective solutions to distributed hosting of computing applications is Compute North’s differentiator for success and will make them a market leader in the transitioning global economy.”
Dave Perrill, CEO of Compute North, noted:
“We want to be on the forefront of leading this transition, fast-tracking development of new data center sites to provide capacity. This new round of funding will enable us to execute on that plan and innovate through 2022 and beyond.”