Singapore-based Sustainable Metal Cloud (SMC) is in the process of raising approximately $950m (S$1.27bn) to capitalise on the burgeoning demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, reports Bloomberg.
The company, which uses advanced NVIDIA chips, aims to expand its operations beyond Singapore to meet the growing needs of global tech conglomerates and AI startups.
SMC, an affiliate of Australia’s Firmus Technologies, is in the final stages of securing an initial equity round of about $400m, sources close to the matter said.
Additionally, the company is working towards raising $550m in debt to further its growth ambitions, they added.
While the specifics are still under wraps, the funds are earmarked for the expansion of SMC’s data centre footprint.
The company’s focus on Asia is timely, as the region becomes a hotspot for data centre development.
SMC offers access to Nvidia’s high-end H100 AI chips, which are in high demand due to their critical role in AI application development and operation.
With more than 1,200 H100 chips currently operational and plans to increase this to 5,000 by year’s end, SMC is addressing the capacity crunch faced by many customers, some of whom experience up to six-month delays.
The H100 chips, which Nvidia claims are four times faster than their predecessors, are essential for companies developing large language models, where performance gains are crucial.
The importance of these chips is underscored by the US government’s restrictions on their sale to China, highlighting their significance in AI development.
Backed by Singapore’s ST Telemedia Global Data Centres, SMC is also innovating in the data centre space with its cooling technology.
This technology, which involves submerging computers in liquid, has the potential to reduce energy consumption by nearly 50%.
Earlier in July 2024, Microsoft joined forces with Lumen Technologies to enhance network capacity and capabilities in order to address the increasing demands on its data centres driven by AI.
