Australian AI company Firmus to raise $325 million to accelerate AI infrastructure rollout

(Reuters) -Australia's Firmus announced on Friday an equity raise of A$500 million ($324.90 million) as the artificial intelligence company and potential IPO candidate looks to accelerate development of Project Southgate, its AI infrastructure initiative. The move comes as global firms push for more investment into infrastructure necessary to compute artificial intelligence technologies amid growing demand for AI-related services. Proceeds from the equity raise will be used by the company to expand site development, infrastructure deployment, and energy deals for AI factories, or data centres, in selected locations across Australia, the company said in a statement. "With demand for AI infrastructure accelerating, this funding ensures we can meet it quickly, cost-effectively, and in line with Australia's renewable energy future," said Co-CEO Tim Rosenfeld. Project Southgate is the company's initiative to develop infrastructure, which includes data centres, for AI training and inference. The initiative, done in collaboration with CDC Data Centres and Nvidia, is expected to reach a capacity of up to 1.6 gigawatts through 2028.  In September, Firmus closed a A$330 million equity placement, with a cornerstone investment by Ellerston Capital, and participation from Nvidia in a bid to accelerate the development of Project Southgate.   ($1 = 1.5389 Australian dollars) (Reporting by John Biju in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

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