Australian AI data centre company Firmus Technologies has raised $505m at a $5.5bn valuation in its final pre-IPO round, targeting a $2bn listing on the Australian Securities Exchange in June or July 2026. The raise was led by Coatue Management with continued participation from Nvidia, which is both a strategic investor and primary chip supplier. Firmus is building 1.6 gigawatts of liquid-cooled AI compute capacity across five Australian locations by 2028, anchored by Project Southgate in Tasmania — a site chosen for its hydroelectric-powered grid. The buildout is backed by a $10bn Blackstone-led debt facility closed in February 2026, one of the largest private credit transactions in Australian history. The company, co-founded in 2019 and originally a cooling tech provider for bitcoin mining, plans to deploy 36,000 Nvidia GB300 Grace Blackwell chips at its Tasmanian campus alone. The projected total build cost across all sites is $73.3bn. Australia is emerging as a significant AI infrastructure destination due to its renewable energy resources, political stability, and Asia-Pacific proximity.
Table of contents
From Tasmania to a national gridThe $10bn Blackstone debt facilityNvidia as investor and supplierThe founders and the backstoryAustralia as an AI infrastructure destinationSort: