Nvidia and Blackstone have backed a $2 billion equity raise for Firmus, an Australian AI-infrastructure company, raising its valuation to more than $10.5 billion in just four months.
Firmus builds specialized data centers for AI training and inference, with plans to expand across Asia-Pacific; it expects customer agreements tied to its Nvidia partnership to generate $25 billion to $30 billion over six years, underscoring major investor confidence in the physical infrastructure underpinning the AI boom.
What happened
Firmus, an Australian AI-infrastructure company, secured $2 billion in equity commitments from Nvidia, Blackstone, Coatue, and Jane Street, nearly doubling its valuation to more than $10.5 billion in four months (up from roughly $5.5 billion in April). The company has now raised more than $3 billion in equity over the past year.
Why it matters
Firmus builds large-scale AI data centers packed with GPUs and cooling infrastructure, including Project Southgate across Australia and expansion into Southeast Asia. The funding round signals continued investor appetite for AI infrastructure despite concerns over the enormous capital required to sustain the AI boom. For Nvidia, Firmus represents another major buyer for next-generation GPUs and a channel for recurring cloud-service revenue.
What to watch
Firmus is planning a 360-megawatt AI factory in Batam, Indonesia, capable of supporting as many as 170,000 Nvidia accelerators through 2027 and 2028. The company expects committed customer agreements tied to the Nvidia partnership could generate $25 billion to $30 billion during its first six years. Firmus also secured a $10 billion debt facility led by Blackstone and Coatue earlier this year.
Firmus, an Australian AI-infrastructure company, has secured $2 billion in equity commitments in a funding round backed by Nvidia, Blackstone, Coatue, and Jane Street. The raise nearly doubled the company's valuation to more than $10.5 billion in four months, up from roughly $5.5 billion in April. In total, Firmus has now raised more than $3 billion in equity over the past year, highlighting sustained investor appetite for the physical infrastructure that underpins artificial intelligence systems despite growing concerns about the enormous capital required to maintain the AI boom.
Firmus builds and operates large-scale AI factories—specialized data centers densely packed with advanced GPUs, power systems, and cooling infrastructure. The company's Project Southgate network is designed to provide AI training and inference capacity across Australia, and it is expanding into Southeast Asia. In this latest round, Coatue and Nvidia made follow-on investments, while Blackstone-managed funds and Jane Street joined the financing for the first time. Blackstone Senior Managing Director John Watson stated: "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."
The capital will accelerate Project Southgate and Firmus's Asia-Pacific expansion. Earlier this year, Firmus separately secured a $10 billion debt facility led by Blackstone and Coatue, providing substantial financing firepower for data-center construction. Firmus's relationship with Nvidia is deepening further: the company plans a 360-megawatt AI factory in Batam, Indonesia, capable of supporting as many as 170,000 Nvidia accelerators through 2027 and 2028. Firmus expects committed customer agreements tied to the Nvidia partnership could generate $25 billion to $30 billion during its first six years. For Nvidia investors, Firmus represents another large buyer for next-generation GPUs and a distribution channel for cloud-service revenue. For Blackstone, the investment deepens its exposure to AI infrastructure beyond debt financing into equity ownership.
Firmus's latest funding round reflects a critical shift in how major institutional investors view AI's infrastructure layer. While headlines focus on large language models and AI software, the physical backbone—data centers, power, cooling, and GPUs—requires even larger capital commitments and longer payoff horizons. Nvidia and Blackstone's continued backing (Coatue and Nvidia made follow-on investments, while Blackstone-managed funds and Jane Street joined) signals that despite warnings about unsustainable capital requirements in the AI boom, the most sophisticated investors believe the infrastructure itself will be foundational. Blackstone Senior Managing Director John Watson's statement that AI infrastructure is "among our highest conviction investment themes" underscores this conviction.
The deal also tightens the relationship between Nvidia and Firmus, moving beyond simple GPU sales toward a partnership model where customer commitments are jointly valued. A 360-megawatt facility supporting 170,000 Nvidia accelerators through 2027–2028, with expected revenues of $25 billion to $30 billion over six years, illustrates the scale of capital and the long-term revenue visibility investors are betting on. For Nvidia, this is a distribution channel and a hedge against a saturated domestic market; for Blackstone, it deepens exposure beyond the debt side into equity ownership and shared upside.
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