Nvidia-Backed Firmus Hits $5.5B Valuation With $505M Raise

Firmus, a Singapore-headquartered AI infrastructure company, expects to close a $505 million equity investment led by Coatue, with participation from Nvidia. The deal values the company at $5.5 billion post-money and brings its total equity raised over the past six months to $1.35 billion.

The round marks a steep climb for Firmus, which closed an A$330 million (approximately US$215 million) equity raise in September 2025 led by Ellerston Capital with participation from Nvidia, valuing the company at A$1.85 billion at the time. The jump to a US$5.5 billion valuation in under a year reflects intense investor demand for physical AI infrastructure at a time when AI infrastructure valuations have surged across the sector.

Firmus builds what it calls “AI factories” – purpose-built, energy-efficient data centers designed for high-density GPU workloads. Its flagship effort, Project Southgate, is a network of facilities across Australia starting in Launceston, Tasmania, with planned expansion to Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, and Perth. The infrastructure is built around Nvidia’s Vera Rubin DSX reference architecture, announced in March 2026 as the successor to the Blackwell platform, with hardware expected to ship broadly in the second half of 2026.

Project Southgate and the Asia-Pacific Push

Project Southgate is designed to scale to 1.6 gigawatts of AI compute capacity across multiple Australian sites by 2028. Firmus says each facility is purpose-built for energy efficiency, using the country’s competitive energy profile – particularly Tasmania’s renewable hydro, wind, and solar resources.

The company secured a $10 billion debt financing facility from Blackstone and Coatue in February 2026, one of the largest private debt financings in Australian history. That capital, combined with the latest equity round, funds the physical buildout of AI compute infrastructure across the region.

Oliver Curtis, co-founder and co-CEO of Firmus, said the investment positions Australia as a hub for global AI compute. The company also operates in Singapore, where it runs retrofitted facilities, and plans to expand its AI factory model across Southeast Asia.

From Bitcoin Mining to Billion-Dollar Valuations

Firmus has roots in cooling technology for Bitcoin mining operations. The company pivoted to AI data center infrastructure as demand for GPU compute exploded, applying its thermal engineering expertise to liquid immersion cooling systems for high-density AI workloads.

The pivot has paid off. Beyond Nvidia and Coatue, Firmus has attracted Blackstone – the world’s largest alternative asset manager with $1.3 trillion in assets under management – as a major debt backer. Coatue, which manages roughly $70 billion in assets, led the latest equity round.

Firmus has described this as its final pre-IPO round, with reports indicating the company is targeting a listing on the Australian Securities Exchange. The company has also signed a multi-year agreement with an unnamed global hyperscale customer at Project Southgate, signaling commercial traction alongside recent AI fundraising activity.

The $5.5 billion valuation places Firmus among the most valuable private AI infrastructure companies globally. As hyperscalers and sovereign governments race to secure compute capacity, companies that can deliver energy-efficient, large-scale GPU deployments in favorable energy markets hold a distinct advantage. Whether Firmus can execute on its ambitious 1.6-gigawatt buildout – and convert that into a successful public listing – will be the next test.