Firmus nearly doubles valuation to over $10.5 billion in Nvidia-backed fundraise

By Nichiket Sunil and Kumar Tanishk

Aug ‌7 (Reuters) - Firmus ​said on ​Friday it had raised $2 billion in equity in its latest funding round to speed up the build-out of AI factories in ‌Australia and Asia Pacific, bringing up the company's post-money valuation ⁠to above $10.5 billion.

The latest funding round by the AI infrastructure company saw follow-on participation from ‌Nvidia and tech investor Coatue ‌Management, along with backing from Blackstone's funds and Jane Street.

The raise values the Australian firm's post-money above $10.5 billion, which is nearly double the $5.5 billion ​valuation from its earlier round in April.

The participation of major Wall Street investors and the most valuable chipmaker underscores continued appetite for AI investments ⁠despite growing concerns about heavy spending and the sustainability of the AI boom.

Demand for Firmus' equity also ​displays how investors are increasingly seeking less crowded AI trades, with volatility and uncertainty hitting AI epicenters like South Korea, ​whose equity index KOSPI shed 22.2% in ‌July alone.

"The pace at which Firmus has re-rated demonstrates how private capital views AI infrastructure as one of the few ⁠capital-scarce opportunities in global markets right now," said Emanuel Ajay Datt, managing director of investment manager Datt Group.

Firmus said the proceeds would allow it to accelerate the next ⁠phase of Project Southgate, the company's initiative to develop AI training and inference infrastructure ​in Australia, while it expands into other Asian markets.

The company builds infrastructure based on Nvidia's DSX AI Factory Reference Architecture. Both firms struck a deal in late June for ‌Firmus to buy Nvidia infrastructure and sell Nvidia‑powered cloud services.

“This investment allows us to move on multiple fronts at once. ‌We’re scaling across Australia while fast-tracking our capacity to expand into the wider ⁠Asia-Pacific region, including the early ‌steps behind our recently announced ​Indonesia development that will serve AI-native customers," said Oliver Curtis, Co-CEO of Firmus.

(Reporting by Nichiket Sunil in Bengaluru; Editing by ‌Rashmi Aich)

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