Investment

UKRI invests £22 million into data spending

The UK Department for Research and Innovation (UKRI) has invested £22 million into data spending and staff over the past three years, underscoring the department's strategic commitment to data as a cornerstone of national research and innovation. Data is playing an increasingly vital role, particularly as artificial intelligence (AI) is being rolled out throughout government departments, with 70% of government bodies already piloting or planning to use AI, highlighting the urgent need for high-quality, structured, and secure data. This development marks a 70% increase in salary investment in just two years, reflecting both rising headcounts and the increasing value of data expertise in shaping the UK’s research landscape. Stuart Harvey, CEO of Datactics, comments, “Both businesses and government departments are keen to implement AI into their business functions but are overlooking the fundamental truth that AI is only as good as the data it learns from. Hiring challenges are becoming an increasing problem, but businesses should follow in the UKRI's footsteps to invest in data spending and staff, and upskill their teams in data management, governance, and quality to improve data readiness. “AI is only as effective as the data it processes and without structured, accurate, and well-governed data, businesses risk AI systems that are flawed. The rush to deploy AI without a strong data foundation is a costly mistake and, in a competitive AI landscape, only those who get their data right will be the ones who thrive.” UKRI’s investment in its data workforce reflects the growing demand for high-quality, well-managed, and accessible data that enables researchers to collaborate, innovate, and respond to global challenges. Between 2022 and 2025, UKRI’s data-related salary investment rose by 85%, from £5.35 million to £9.89 million, reflecting both growing headcounts and the escalating value of data expertise across the UK’s research ecosystem. Over the same period, the number of staff with “data” in their job titles rose from 138 in 2022 to 203 in 2025 - a 47% increase. Sachin Agrawal, Managing Director for Zoho UK, says, “As the UK continues to position itself as a global science and technology powerhouse, it is a welcome sight to see the department prioritising the investment of its data workforce for long-term commitment to data-driven research. “In an era where public trust and data ethics are paramount, building in-house expertise is essential to ensuring that data privacy, transparency, and compliance are at the heart of our national research infrastructure. This strategic investment lays the foundation for smarter and safer technology use by the UKRI."

Townsend Group invests in CleanArc Data Centers

CleanArc Data Centers, a developer and operator of renewables-focused hyperscale data centre campuses, announced today that Townsend Group, an advisor and partner to institutional investors globally, has made a strategic investment in the company. The investment was led by Townsend, which advises a consortium of global investors, including some of the largest sovereign and pension plans pursuing strategic stakes in leading investment and operating platforms. This new partnership further supports CleanArc’s growth initiatives as it continues developing its first data centre campus in Virginia, set to deliver 300 MW of capacity by Q1 2027. “We’re excited to welcome Townsend as a strategic investment partner,” says James Trout, Founder and CEO of CleanArc. “Their capital markets expertise, institutional knowledge, and private real assets scale will be instrumental as we execute on our mission to develop the data centres of the future, particularly our inaugural campus in Virginia, VA1. Townsend brings a demonstrated track record of supporting transformative businesses throughout their growth journeys. And with Snowhawk’s ongoing investment leadership, we’re well-equipped to continue tackling the growing data centre challenges faced by hyperscalers.” “CleanArc’s strong team of industry veterans and their shrewd approach to site selection, development and power structuring really sets them apart,” adds Anthony Frammartino, CEO and Chairman, at Townsend. “We’re excited to support the company’s continued development of leading data centre campuses across Tier 1 markets.” Snowhawk LP will remain the majority stakeholder in CleanArc as the company continues to solidify partnerships with hyperscale customers and expand infrastructure in key markets. “Snowhawk is delighted to partner with Townsend on this strategic investment in CleanArc, further accelerating innovation and the development of capacity to support the next generation of AI and cloud capabilities,” remarks Brian McMullen, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Snowhawk Partners. “CleanArc continues to set new standards in future-focused data centre development,” concludes Greg Stamas, Managing Director at Snowhawk. “In partnership with Townsend and our other investors, we are excited to support CleanArc’s continued leadership in sustainability and renewable energy use.” For more from CleanArc Data Centers, click here.

PolarDC secures €500m equity investment

Fiorenzo Manganiello (left) and Nessim-Sariel Gaon (right), co-founders of data centre firm, PolarDC Group, have secured capital investment from H.I.G. Infrastructure in a deal worth up to €500 million (£418m). The move signals the pair’s plans to further scale Polar and invest heavily in firms meeting the market demand for emerging technologies. Polar develops, owns, and operates data centre infrastructure targeting high-performance computing (HPC) applications, including AI. The company has multiple data centre facilities in Norway and is actively developing additional locations across Europe. Its first data centre, located in southern Norway, will provide up to 48MW of IT capacity once fully operational. The co-founders launched Polar in 2021 after identifying the rapidly growing demand for AI infrastructure. Anticipated debt financing of €350 million will bring the total value of the transaction to €500 million, with H.I.G. investing up to €150 million and gaining a majority stake in the company. Fiorenzo and Nessim say that they are excited to see what the future holds for Polar following this capital increase, and they look forward to working hand-in-hand with H.I.G. to further accelerate Polar's growth. The development of AI technology is expanding the data centre market rapidly and is predicted to drive a 160% increase in power demand by 2030. The amount of computing power that AI models consume generally doubles every six months, and the demand outlook is robust, requiring data centre operators such as Polar to continue to scale accordingly. The duo plan to continue expanding the company in order to meet the growing demand and support the continuous development of innovation across the AI ecosystem. Fiorenzo and Nessim will continue to play an essential role at Polar, retaining a minority stake through their investment firm, LIAN Group, which they also co-founded together in 2019. The pair will bring their years of expertise in digital infrastructure to support the company’s next phase of growth, remaining close to its day-to-day operations. LIAN Group is an investment firm with over $500 million of deployed capital across technology companies in digital infrastructure, AI, healthcare, and blockchain. Through LIAN Group, Fiorenzo and Nessim build and fund cutting-edge businesses, primarily across these sectors. Its co-founders plan to double down on this strategy in the near future and beyond. H.I.G. Capital is a leading global alternative investment firm with $65 billion of equity capital under management. H.I.G.’s infrastructure strategy focuses on making value-add and core-plus investments in the infrastructure sector. Its investment in Polar and deep sector expertise will enable the company to deliver on its near-term pipeline goals. Nessim-Sariel Gaon, Co-Founder of Polar, says, “As AI technologies continue to strengthen their grip on the world, demand for well-equipped data centres will continue to skyrocket. We founded Polar because we envisaged that demand and wanted to be able to offer a solution that was sustainable, efficient, and scalable – we wanted to develop AI infrastructure that allowed new technologies to flourish. “AI technologies are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with the potential to transform every sector. Its evolution requires more and more computing power, and we must be able to meet that demand. H.I.G.’s investment and experience will help accelerate Polar’s growth and pave the way for innovative HPC technologies across Europe. This is only the beginning.” Fiorenzo Manganiello, Co-Founder of Polar, adds, “Our intention with LIAN Group has always been to build and fund cutting-edge tech businesses that meet the market demand. Nessim and I have dedicated time, energy, and passion into making Polar a significant player in the data centre space. We are ready for the next wave of AI’s development and are excited to partner with H.I.G. Its investment and operational expertise will help guide the company through this next phase of its development. Looking ahead, we’re keen to develop other market leaders like Polar. We are constantly impressed with new and emerging innovations and are eager to be a part of their journey.” Andrew Liau, Co-Head of H.I.G. Infrastructure, remarks, “The team behind Polar has extensive experience operating and scaling data centre infrastructure; a sector H.I.G. has a strong track record in. Our combined expertise will set the stage for the company’s continued growth as it expands alongside the rising demand for data centre infrastructure. We’re incredibly excited by this partnership.”

Cerabyte secures investment from Pure Storage

Cerabyte, a provider of ceramic-based data storage solutions, has announced a strategic investment from Pure Storage, the IT pioneer that delivers an advanced data storage platform, to help enable sustainable immutable data storage solutions. Additionally, John (Coz) Colgrove, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Pure Storage, joins Cerabyte’s Board of Directors. Cerabyte’s vision is to store all data virtually forever and preserve today’s digital records for future use through the use of its ceramic data storage technology. With Pure Storage delivering the platform to store, manage, and protect the world's data, this strategic investment in Cerabyte will enable the company to extend this mission further. “Pure’s investment in Cerabyte and joint partnership will allow us to offer our customers sustainable and immutable data storage solutions that are revolutionising the industry,” says John (Coz) Colgrove, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer, Pure Storage. “By disrupting the archival storage market, we are paving the way for longer lasting and easier to manage long-term storage.” Cerabyte enables a new tier of accessible, permanent, and sustainable data storage that is projected to extend from petabyte to exabyte-scale data centre racks. The persistent media technology can hold data for extremely long periods of time while consuming no power. “The complex global needs of zettabyte-scale archival storage have been poorly served with expensive solutions that consume an inordinate share of the world’s available energy,” says John Monroe, Chief Analyst at Furthur Market Research. “The storage industry is ripe for transformative disruption. In concert and conjunction with tape, new technologies such as Cerabyte’s will be required to provide viable and cost-effective solutions to enterprise customers’ crucial challenges with the security, immutability and sustainability (SIS) of their vital data.” Cerabyte’s ceramic-based data storage does not suffer from bit rot or silent corruption, which threatens data integrity over time. Instead, it provides an immutable record of the original data required in an increasing number of use cases, especially in the era of AI. “As the industry is heading towards the Yottabyte Era, sustainable data storage — which eliminates the need for data migration and thereby scales down the energy footprint and TCO — will be critical to harness the data tsunami ahead,” notes Christian Pflaum, CEO, Cerabyte. “We are thrilled to partner with Pure Storage to commercialise ceramic data storage and welcome John to our Board of Directors.” For more from Pure Storage, click here.

CTERA announces growth investment from PSG Equity

CTERA, a provider of hybrid cloud data management solutions, has raised $80 million (£61.4m) in primary and secondary funding from PSG Equity, a growth equity firm focused on software and technology-enabled services companies. As part of the transaction, Ronen Nir, Managing Director at PSG, has joined CTERA’s board of directors alongside existing shareholders Benchmark, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Red Dot Capital Partners. CTERA, named the top Leader and Outperformer in the GigaOm Distributed Cloud File Storage Radar for three consecutive years, combines an edge-accelerated global file system across public and private cloud environments with AI-based ransomware protection and data intelligence services. CTERA is at the core of hybrid cloud initiatives at some of the world’s largest banks, healthcare organisations, global media groups, and government agencies, in deployments that scale to tens of petabytes. Unstructured data is a critical component of any enterprise storage strategy, representing about 80% of organisational data distributed across branch offices, endpoints, on-premises, and cloud data centres. Within this space, hybrid cloud file storage is one of the fastest-growing segments. According to Gartner, “By 2027, 60% of I&O leaders will implement hybrid cloud file deployments, up from 20% in early 2023.”. The proliferation of AI technology helps make unstructured data management more crucial than ever before, as data access is needed not only for users and applications, but also for AI workflows. The new enterprise AI platforms depend on timely access to corporate data for training models and for augmented data retrieval to ensure relevance and accuracy. “We believe CTERA is setting the standard for the modern hybrid data platform, with military-certified security and unparalleled performance,” says Liran Eshel, Founder and Chairman of the Board of CTERA. “The strategic partnership with PSG will enable us to further drive our expansion while delivering top service to our customers, and implement our vision for AI data services.” “This investment is evidence of CTERA's robust business model and the opportunity it represents,” adds Ronen Nir, Managing Director, PSG. “We are excited to partner with CTERA as it embarks on capturing what we believe will be an inflection point in the hybrid cloud data market, leveraging both organic and inorganic opportunities to strengthen CTERA’s position and deliver even greater value to its customers.” For more from CTERA, click here.

Madison River invests in data centre company

JMadison River Capital (MRC), a lower middle market private equity firm, has announced the completion of a $190 million (£146.8m) recapitalisation of and $70 million (£54.1m) equity investment in JDC Power Systems (JDC), a leading electrical systems integrator exclusively serving the data centre market. This transaction marks MRC's second investment in the past seven months, following its spin out from the family office of Tony James, the former Executive Vice Chairman of Blackstone. Headquartered in Armonk, New York, JDC specialises in providing technical services and equipment to customers in the data centre market. JDC is an integrator of customer design, engineering, procurement, installation, start-up, commissioning and warranty, for mission-critical power and control systems. The company’s expertise in coordinating with utility power grids minimises the risks of redesigns, delays, or system failures. "We were drawn to JDC because of its impressive track record of delivering highly technical solutions and innovative products that provide significant competitive advantages in the growing data centre industry," says David Wittels, Managing Partner and President of MRC. "We are excited to partner with Joe, Richard, and their talented team to support the company's continued growth and enhance career opportunities for its employees," notes Matthew Clancy, Principal at MRC. "We are delighted to collaborate with Madison River Capital, whose investment acumen and operational expertise will be instrumental in supporting JDC's growth trajectory," adds Joe Mastromonaco and Richard Corbin, Co-Founders of JDC. "We look forward to leveraging MRC's capabilities to better serve our customers and capitalise on the immense growth opportunities in the data centre market.” As part of the transaction, Kenneth Brown, a Senior Managing Director at MRC, has been appointed Chairman, and Grace Niland has been appointed Chief Human Resources Officer of JDC. Kenneth has over 20 years of senior executive experience, including serving as a Group President of Roper Industries and in multiple executive roles at Schneider Electric (formerly known as Invensys) prior to joining MRC. Grace most recently served as Director of Human Resources for Corning, and she previously spent over 25 years with Raytheon Technologies (formerly known as United Technologies Corporation) in various human resources leadership roles. Kenneth and Grace are both members of MRC's seasoned team of operating executives, who bring industry-specific best practices and best-in-class cross-functional expertise to MRC’s portfolio companies. This team also includes Derek Irwin, Jeff Winter, and Jennifer Steeves-Kiss.

Nasuni announces strategic growth investment

Nasuni, a leading enterprise data platform for modern hybrid cloud environments, has announced a strategic growth investment led by Vista Equity Partners, a global investment firm focused exclusively on enterprise software, data, and technology-enabled businesses. Vista will be joined by TCV and KKR in the new investment, which values Nasuni at approximately $1.2 billion (£940m). The investment will build on Nasuni’s strong momentum disrupting the legacy storage industry to further accelerate product innovation and commercial expansion in the global hybrid cloud market. Further terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “At Nasuni, we care first and foremost about the success of our customers, partners, and employees,” says Paul Flanagan, CEO of Nasuni. “We are maniacal about our commitment to delivering quality in every aspect of our business and interaction with our customers. This investment and our strategic partnership with Vista, TCV, and KKR will allow us to build upon that commitment, scale with purpose and continue to innovate as we look to take Nasuni to the next level.” Nasuni’s success to-date includes award winning technology, top decile customer retention rates, industry leading NPS scores, and a consistent 30% growth rate in a market that is rapidly expanding with the advent of hybrid cloud and AI. Nasuni’s data platform is used by over 850 companies spanning 70 countries, and is in use by some of the largest enterprises in the manufacturing, consumer goods, and energy industries. “Nasuni’s platform offers a highly differentiated approach to consolidating, protecting, and managing data at scale with performance that is critical to supporting AI applications and other high-volume data use-cases,” adds Martin Taylor, Co-Head of Vista's Foundation Fund and Senior Managing Director. “We are thrilled to partner with the Nasuni team as they work to help businesses optimise their expanding and complex data needs with solutions that are fast, secure and highly cost-effective.” BofA Securities served as the exclusive financial advisor and Goodwin Proctor LLP served as legal advisor to Nasuni. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Vista and TCV. KKR is making the investment through its Next Generation Technology III Fund. For more from Nasuni, click here.

NordicEPOD secures investment from Eaton and CTS Nordics

NordicEPOD, a manufacturing firm that specialises in the fabrication and integration of standardised power modules designed for the data centre industry, has successfully secured a strategic commercial investment from both CTS Nordics, a dedicated data centre design and build company, and Eaton, the global intelligent power management company. NordicEPOD helps reduce the complexity, cost and lead times associated with the construction of new data centres, which is vitally important for its customers as the industry undergoes surging growth. Each EPOD, built to the same standard design, contains all the critical power, backup, cooling and control systems, such as Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs), switchgear and power distribution that can support the supply of up to 2MW of electrical power. The EPOD is engineered and placed between the power grid and the data centre’s critical IT infrastructure that it protects. All EPODs that leave the factory will be fully digitally enabled and receive Level 1 to 3 Commissioning, allowing for superior integration and operations. Morten Molven, General Manager, NordicEPOD, comments, “We are delighted to be partnering with Eaton. Their global reach and commitment to NordicEPOD will help us to upscale significantly, so that we can manufacture with security of supply and ensure our clients’ project requirements are fully met. Eaton’s current and evolving technology is the perfect fit for our EPOD design.” CTS Nordics is a dedicated data centre design and build company that specialises in new building design and construction methods. They provide data centre operators in the Nordic region a standardised and rapidly deployable, cost-effective approach for the design, construction and commissioning of data centres. As a result of this agreement, output from the existing NordicEPOD factory in Oslo will be increased with immediate effect, and a larger factory in Oslo will open in August to service a current orderbook through its capacity of over 500MW of EPODs per year. Plans for a further factory in Europe, at a location yet to be confirmed, are already under discussion. Ciarán Forde, Vice President, Strategic Accounts and Alliances at Eaton, notes, “NordicEPOD already belongs to our xModular partner programme, and this deal cements that relationship. What is unique is how CTS Nordics and NordicEPOD have aligned to positively disrupt the status quo and drive new levels of value to data centre operators. Both companies were formed to serve, and focus entirely on, the data centre industry. This has shaped how they operate and has resulted in engineered solutions like none other. This is the level of innovation and scale needed to meet the market needs.” For more from Eaton, click here.

Vertiv invests in manufacturing facility in Northern Ireland

Vertiv has announced that it is making a significant investment in a manufacturing facility in Campsie, Derry / Londonderry, creating approximately 200 skilled jobs and contributing to the Northern Ireland economy. Supported by Invest Northern Ireland, its investment will further strengthen Northern Ireland’s highly developed and advanced manufacturing and engineering sector. Karsten Winther, President of Europe, Middle East and Africa at Vertiv, says, “We are delighted to be making this investment, which will support our EMEA and global business growth and help us to meet strong market demand for our infrastructure solutions, mainly driven by digitalisation and AI adoption. Vertiv’s focus is on solving the most important challenges facing today’s data centres, communication networks and commercial and industrial facilities with a portfolio of power, cooling and IT infrastructure solutions. This new investment will support our goal.”  Philip O’Doherty, Managing Director for the E+I business at Vertiv, adds, “Derry was not the only location we considered for this facility, but it came out on top when we realised the quality of the local workforce, the cost-competitive business environment and the ease with which we can establish links and work with colleges and universities to support our research and development plans. The support from Invest NI was also crucial to our decision to choose Northern Ireland.”  The Department for the Economy’s Assured Skills Academies will assist in filling 72 of the jobs by providing training across skills areas in electrical and mechanical installation. Vertiv is actively recruiting for vacancies in engineering and other roles. The company has a robust diversity and inclusion strategy and is welcoming and encouraging women to apply for positions, with the goal of attracting more women into STEM careers at Vertiv. It will also use this opportunity to build on its already successful apprenticeship programme to attract graduates and apprentices into full-time skilled roles.

Pulsant invests £3m in expansion at Rotherham data centre

Pulsant has announced that the new investment will see an expansion of its Rotherham data centre capacity by 116% to 380kW. The new power will accommodate growing regional demand for low latency, high performance, scalable network infrastructure.  At more than 2000SQM, the Rotherham site will see total IT space increase by 30% to support a growing technology sector demand in the Yorkshire and Humber region with edge colocation, hyperscale cloud access, and distributed compute services.  As on-site capacity increases, its commitment to driving sustainable operations across its national network continues with the Rotherham site the first to pilot non-palm derived HVO biofuel to replace fossil diesel in its standby power generators. Pulsant is also eliminating the use of FM200 fire suppressant gas and moving to LED sensor lighting to reduce electricity use across the centre. Ben Cranham, Chief Operating Officer at Pulsant, comments, “Our focus on delivering regional access to edge infrastructure is seeing us invest significantly to meet the growing demand for access to low latency, high performance, compute, storage and connectivity services across the Yorkshire and Humber region.”  Pulsant’s latest quarterly survey of UK IT and business decision maker revealed that that business decision makers are three times more likely than their IT counterparts to question cloud-only strategies. With business leaders questioning increasing hyperscale cloud costs and vendor exclusivity, IT leaders will need to explore hybrid alternatives including colocation and private cloud infrastructure. “Our platformEDGE infrastructure, in Rotherham and across the UK, is supporting the increasing number of business decision makers challenging cloud only strategies on cost and vendor lock-in grounds and their IT counterparts who see the limitations in the hyperscale model,” adds Ben. “The Rotherham data centre investment cements Pulsant’s domain expertise in the edge infrastructure market, adding further capacity to its platformEDGE infrastructure to reach businesses across the UK.”