EcoDataCenter (EDC), a Swedish company specializing in the construction of eco-friendly data centers, has secured a $478 million (€450 million) equity funding round. The investment, sourced from unnamed institutional investors, aims to support the development of new green technologies and expand data center infrastructure, fueled by the increasing demand for AI-related computing resources.
This announcement follows CoreWeave, a major AI compute provider and a key customer of EDC, filing for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the United States just two days prior. EDC now boasts a total of €910 million ($966 million) in equity raised to date. Areim, the parent holding company, has not disclosed EDC’s current valuation. However, the company confirmed that spinning out EDC is not being considered.
“We are focused on scaling EcoDataCenter and delivering long-term value, supported by the strong backing of our investors,” stated Robert Björk, an investment manager for Areim and a board member at EcoDataCenter. “While we continuously evaluate strategic opportunities for the company, including potential future financing options, an IPO is not something we are actively pursuing at this stage.”
EDC’s core mission is to build sustainable co-location data centers. These facilities provide spaces where customers can host their servers and related hardware. This focus aligns with growing concerns regarding the energy consumption of data centers. Research from the International Energy Agency (IEA) highlights the significant power demands of these facilities, with some consuming 100 MW or more, which is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of approximately 350,000 to 400,000 electric cars. The IEA estimates that data centers account for 1% of global electricity consumption.
In this context, EDC’s commitment to eco-friendly practices is particularly noteworthy. EDC is not only striving to meet the escalating demand for computing power but also doing so in a way that minimizes environmental impact. “We were the first company in the world to start building in what’s called cross-laminated timber,” explained Peter Michelson, CEO of EDC, in an interview. “Now Microsoft is following.”
EDC also leverages renewable energy sources to power its buildings and is actively innovating in cooling and operational efficiency. Other EDC customers include DeepL and various “hyperscalers,” which may build their own data centers but also utilize third-party facilities, such as EDC’s, to balance their capacity requirements. While EDC serves clients beyond the technology sector, including BMW, it is perhaps best known for its partnership with CoreWeave.
Notably, EDC is the prominent hosting provider for a collaborative project with CoreWeave and Nvidia to establish the first Blackwell cluster in Europe, located in Falun, Sweden. This project aims to augment Europe’s compute capacity.
The size of EDC’s fundraising underscores the increasing value of data centers, particularly co-location facilities, in the current AI boom. The United States, for instance, announced the Stargate project in January, a $500 billion initiative with backing from OpenAI, SoftBank, and others, aimed at constructing mega AI data centers. “There’s a lot of infrastructure-type capital flooding into the data center space, given that it’s real estate infrastructure now becoming more tech oriented,” Michelson said. This real estate alignment may also explain the enthusiasm for the venture within the current administration, particularly with President Trump’s background in the real estate sector.
