Artificial intelligence data centre startup Firmus Technologies has trebled its valuation to $6 billion after raising another $500 million, just two months after banking $330 million in a deal with Nvidia.
After setting out to build an AI data centre in Tasmania, the Singapore-based company announced a $73.3 billion plan, Project Southgate, with AI infrastructure also in Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Perth.
Firmus was founded in 2019 by Oliver Curtis, Tim Rosenfield and Jonathan Levee, and originally focused on bitcoin mining.
The company pivoted to what it calls “green AI factories” with “a new kind of infrastructure designed specifically to meet the needs of energy intensive AI computing workloads – with a focus on energy efficiency, high performance, and sustainability”, forging partnerships. CDC Data Centres and Nvidia
Curtis, husband of expat Sydney publicist and influencer Roxy Jacenko, initially invested $250,000 in Firmus, which, by 2024, was worth $81 million. The latest deal likely makes him a billionaire on paper. The son mining and banking exec Nick Curtis, Oliver became infamous in 2016 when, as a 30-year-old stockbroker, he was sentenced to two years imprisonment for an insider trading scam with a close friend that netted them just $1.43 million. He served 12 months before being released in 2017.
The $500 million is for the national rollout of Project Southgate, its flagship AI infrastructure initiative with scale up to 1.6 gigawatts through 2028.
Curtis, the co-CEO, said the capital will allow the company to rapidly manufacture and deploy its next generation of AI infrastructure across Australia.
“This raise allows us to deliver on the next phase of Project Southgate – expanding beyond Tasmania into four major mainland regions,” he said.
“We’re manufacturing a new class of AI infrastructure, on Australian soil, that is purpose-built for scale, performance, and sustainability. This means high value local jobs and a critical piece of sovereign capability for Australia.”
Cofounder and co-CEO Tim Rosenfeld said they’d spent years developing a vertically integrated AI Factory platform that can scale more efficiently than traditional approaches.
“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,” he said.
Morgans acted as sole lead manager, with Highbury
Project Southgate is hoping to deliver Firmus AI Factory deployments of up to 1.6 gigawatts by 2028.
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