Australian AI infrastructure startup Firmus Technologies has received full commitments for a $2bn strategic equity investment round, as it moves ahead with its Project Southgate AI Factory rollout across Australia.
The round includes follow-on participation from Coatue and Nvidia, as well as new investment from funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and other Blackstone vehicles, which the company collectively referred to as Blackstone. Global trading and technology firm Jane Street is also participating.
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
Firmus said the funding will support the next phase of Project Southgate in Australia and help prepare for expansion into other Asia-Pacific markets.
The company said it already manufactures its proprietary HyperCube platform in Australia and has grid-aware software in place. It added that the new capital will help accelerate its domestic rollout and support targeted investments tied to future expansion.
Firmus said it is developing an AI infrastructure based on Nvidia’s DSX AI Factory Reference Architecture to speed up deployment, improving tokens per watt, and boosting resiliency at scale.
The transaction brings the company’s total new equity raised over the past year to more than $3bn, and it said its post-money valuation is now above $10.5bn.
Firmus co-CEO Oliver Curtis said: “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.
“We’re excited to see continued backing from Coatue, Nvidia, Blackstone and Jane Street as we build one of the world’s leading AI infrastructure platforms from Australia.”
Blackstone senior managing director John Watson said: “We believe AI infrastructure will be a foundational driver of global growth, and it is among our highest conviction investment themes. We are pleased to continue to invest in Firmus and support platforms at the forefront of AI innovation.”
In June this year, the company announced a long-term partnership with Nvidia to establish a dedicated AI campus in Batam, Indonesia.
Firmus said the campus is intended to provide large-scale AI computing resources for enterprise, independent software vendor and AI-native clients worldwide. Under that agreement, Firmus said it will create a 360MW Nvidia DSX AI Factory campus, which is set to feature up to 170,000 Nvidia AI accelerators.
