Top 10 Innovative Data Centre Investors in 2025

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Below we profile 10 innovative data centre investors shaping 2025 — including Bain, Magnetar/CoreWeave, Blackstone, Macquarie, Stonepeak, EQT, Ardian, Actis, KKR and Saudi Arabia’s PIF — with strategy focus, cheque sizes and recent deals.

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Bain Capital
Magnetar/CoreWeave
Blackstone
Macquarie
Stonepeak
EQT
Ardian
Actis
KKR
Saudi Arabia (PIF)

1. Bain Capital

Bain Capital is a global private investment firm managing approximately $185 billion in assets across private equity, credit, real estate, venture capital, and other strategies. Historically known for leveraged buyouts, the firm has increasingly focused on digital infrastructure since 2019, recognising data centres as a key enabler of the digital economy.

Data centre investments

Bain entered the data centre space in 2019 with the $3.16 billion acquisition of China-based Chindata Group. It merged the business with Southeast Asia’s Bridge Data Centres to form WinTriX DC Group, which has since grown into a major pan-Asian hyperscale operator. Bain is now exploring a sale of the platform in a deal that could exceed $4 billion.

In 2025, Bain launched Hscale, a new European hyperscale platform, as part of a broader expansion of its EMEA infrastructure investments. Hscale is currently developing over 1 GW of capacity in markets including London, Frankfurt, Milan, and Madrid. Together with ongoing U.S. investments, these efforts highlight Bain’s role in scaling digital infrastructure globally.

2. Magnetar Capital

Magnetar Capital is an asset manager and hedge fund based in Illinois, USA. Traditionally known for its multi-strategy investments in sectors like fixed income and energy, Magnetar manages approximately $19 billion as of early 2025. Magnetar’s opportunistic approach has led it to identify the booming demand for AI and cloud computing capacity as an investment opportunity. Magnetar specialises in deploying capital into niche, high-growth ventures and has become involved in a unique data centre startup.

Data centre investments

Magnetar Capital emerged as the principal financial backer of CoreWeave, a provider of GPU-centric cloud infrastructure and data centres tailored for AI workloads. Magnetar led CoreWeave’s $221 million Series B funding round at a valuation of over $2 billion. It also led a $2.3 billion debt facility for CoreWeave in August 2023 to finance the startup’s rapid expansion of data centre capacity. Thanks to these investments, Magnetar built up a 34.5% ownership stake in CoreWeave ahead of its 2025 IPO. This foray illustrates Magnetar’s innovative role in financing next-generation data centres aimed at AI and high-performance computing.

3. Blackstone

Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager with around $1 trillion in assets. Primarily known for its real estate and private equity mega-deals, Blackstone has leveraged its significant capital pools to acquire and develop data centre assets globally. The firm’s strategy often involves taking large, established data centre operators and investing in their growth. Blackstone’s scale and financial firepower have allowed it to execute some of the industry’s most significant data centre transactions to date.

Data centre investments

In 2021, Blackstone acquired QTS Realty Trust, a major provider of carrier-neurtal data centres and colocation services, in a deal valued at $10 billion. At the time, this gave Blackstone a portfolio of over 7 million square feet of data centre space across North America and Europe. In September 2024, Blackstone led a consortium of investors to purchase an 88% stake in AirTrunk, an Asia-Pacific hyperscale data center platform, in a trsnaction implying an enterprise value of over $15billion. Under Blackstone’s ownership, AirTrunk is poised for future expansion. Blackstone also participated alongside Magnetar in the innovative $2.3 billion debt facility for CoreWeave. By deploying its capital at scale, Blackstone has become a big enabler of hyperscale cloud campuses to edge facilities globally.

4. Macquarie Asset Management

Macquarie Asset Management, part of Australia’s Macquarie Group, is one of the world’s largest infrastructure investors with ~$633 billion under management across public and private assets. Macquarie-managed funds have backed some of the most innovative and fastest-growing companies, particularly in the Asia-Pacific and Americas regions. Known for its “buy, grow, and sell” model, Macquarie often scales up partners before exiting at substantial gains. Macquarie has a two-decade history in digital infrastructure, leveraging its global expertise to identify high-growth opportunities in fibre, towers, and data centres.

Data centre investments

Macquarie is the lead investor in Aligned Data Centers, a US-based data centre provider known for its cooling technology. In January 2025, Aligned raised $5 billion in new equity from Macquarie-managed funds and partners to accelerate development of 5+ GW of capacity across the Americas. Macquarie has enabled Aligned to expand into multiple US and LATAM markets. Macquarie also were the sellers in the AirTrunk deal with Blackstone, having initially acquired a majority stake in the firm in 2020, when it had just five facilities, helping it grow to 11 sites and 1.8GW of capacity across the region.

5. Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners

Stonepeak is a U.S.-based private equity firm specialising in infrastructure and real assets, with a reputation for innovative investments in the digital economy. With tens of billions in assets under management, Stonepeak has been at the forefront of funding next-generation data centres and networking projects. The firm often teams up with experienced industry teams to create new platforms from scratch. Its approach emphasises not only growth and profitability, but also building sustainable, high-performance infrastructure that meets the needs of cloud and connectivity providers.

Data centre investments

In 2020, Stonepeak founded Digital Edge, a data center platform headquartered in Singapore, aimed at bringing colocation and cloud infrastructure to the Asia-Pacific region. Digital Edge has rapidly expanded under Stonepeak’s backing to 21 data centres across 6 Asian countries (including Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, and the Philippines) totalling over 500 MW of IT load in operation or construction. By early 2025, Digital Edge secured $1.6 billion in new equity and debt financing to build large new campuses in markets like Thailand and India to meet surging cloud and AI demand. Stonepeak is exploring a $1 billion stake in Singaporean data centre operator Princeton Digital Group.

6. EQT Infrastructure

EQT Infrastructure is the infrastructure investment arm of Sweden’s EQT, a global private equity firm. The firm is known for its direct approach and ESG-oriented perspective, often seeking to modernise and future-proof the companies it acquires. In the data centre industry, EQT made waves by acquiring a pioneer in edge computing and then supporting its evolution into a sustainable global player. With a focus on long-term, platform-building investments, EQT has made digital infrastructure one of its core themes.

Data centre investments

In 2020, EQT acquired EdgeConneX, a company originally known for developing small data centres in underserved markets. As of 2024, EdgeConneX operates 80+ data centres, ranging from edge facilities to large hyperscale campuses, across 50+ markets worldwide, tripling its capacity since the takeover. EQT also supported EdgeConneX raise $1.9 billion in sustainability-linked financing to fund its expansions and achieve certifications at key sites. In recognition of its innovation, EdgeConneX won the Datacloud Global “Data Centre of the Year” award in 2024. This stewardship exemplifies how capital can foster distributed, environmentally sustainable data centre platforms that cater to new geographies and applications.

7. Ardian

Ardian is a Paris-based private investment house that was spun out from AXA. It manages funds across infrastructure, private equity, and other asset classes, with ~$30 billion dedicated to infrastructure investments. Ardian’s strategy often involves leveraging its regional expertise and focus on sustainability to develop assets with long-term value. While Ardian has traditionally invested in energy and transport assets, it recently made a strong entry into digital infrastructure by acquiring a platform renowned for its green and high-performance computing facilities.

Data centre investments

In 2024, Ardian acquired 100% of Verne Global from previous owner Digital 9 Infrastructure. Verne Global is known for operating large-scale data centres in Iceland, Finland, and the UK that run on 100% renewable or decarbonised energy, making it suitable for high performance compute and AI workloads with minimal carbon footprint. Ardian has pledged up to $1.2 billion in investment to fund an ambitious expansion plan for Verne. Verne aims to quadruple its capacity; opening new sites in Sweden and Norway, as well as add capacity to its flagship campus in Iceland. Ardian’s entry into data centres complements its broader infrastructure portfolio and underscores to the trend of investors backing sustainable data centres particularly in geographies with abundant green power.

8. Actis

Actis is a global investment firm headquartered in London that focuses on emerging markets. Actis has raised multi-billion-dollar funds to invest in infrastructure, energy, and real estate across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Actis tends to combine growth capital with on-the-ground operating expertise to build businesses that address local demands for cloud and connectivity. Actis recently identified data centres as a key enabler of digital growth in developing economies and has made pioneering investments to establish data centre platforms in regions often overlooked by traditional investors.

Data centre investments

Actis has assembled a diverse portfolio of data centre ventures spanning three continents. In Africa, Actis has committed an initial $250 million to expand the capacity and services of Rack Centre, Nigeria’s leading carrier-neutral data centre. In Asia, Actis was an early investor in Chayora, a Chinese data centre developer focused on hyperscale campuses in Tianjin. Actis led a $180 million funding round in 2019 to fuel Chayora’s growth. In 2024, Actis launched a new pan-Asian data centre platform called Epoch Digital. Epoch is developing 200MW of capacity across three initial projects in Taiwan, Malaysia, and South Korea. Actis also acquired 11 data centres in Latin America in 2023, bolstering its global footprint. By deploying capital in high-growth but underserved markets, Actis is financing some unique data centre deployments aimed at bridging digital divide and supporting the next billion internet users.

9. KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.)

KKR is a global investment firm famous for pioneering leveraged buyouts in the 1980s. Today it manages over $500 billion and has a dedicated infrastructure division. The firm’s philosophy in digital infrastructure is to build integrated platforms that encompass data centres along with related assets like power and fibre, creating synergistic ecosystems. In the past few years, KKR has made some of the industry’s largest deals and commitments, underlining its big ambitions in the data centre field.

Data centre investments

In 2024, KKR’s infrastructure fund partnered in a $50 billion joint venture to invest in AI-oriented data centres and power infrastructure in the US, signalling intent to marry data facilities with energy assets at scale. In 2021 KKR agreed to acquire CyrusOne, a top-tier US data centre operator with over 50 facilities worldwide, in a a ~$15 billion transaction including debt. In 2020, KKR committed significant capital to Global Technical Realty (GTR), a data centre platform in Europe. KKR initially funded GTR with $1 billion equity in 2020 and secured a further $1.5 billion credit line. GTR has since been developing huge campuses in the UK, France, Spain, and Israel. Its GB One campus in London was fully pre-leased by 2024 ahead of its completion. By combining massive capital with strategic vision, KKR is helping finance the next generation of data centres tailored for cloud, AI, and edge computing.

10. National Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (PIF)

The government of Saudi Arabia has become a major force in data centre investment as part of an ambitious national digital transformation agenda. Under the Vision 2030 programme, Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in technology infrastructure to diversify its economy beyond oil. This includes positioning the Kingdom as a regional and global hub for data centres and cloud services. Backed by strong state support and regulatory reforms, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has committed vast resources to enable cutting-edge data centre projects, often in partnership with international tech firms. Saudi Arabia is home to some of the world’s most innovative data centre projects. These initiatives are part of a broader push toward Sovereign AI, where data, models and critical infrastructure remain under national control.

Data centre investments

The government backed tech firm DataVolt is investing $5 billion to build one of the world’s largest AI-focused data centres. This facility will boast 1.5GW of capacity entirely powered by renewable energy, with the first 300 MW phase expected online by 2028. In addition, DataVolt has pledged up to $20 billion to build data centres and related energy infrastructure in the United States, as part of a US-Saudi tech cooperation initiative. The PIF and Google Cloud are co-developing a cloud data centre in Dammam to enhance local and cloud capabilities. Overall, Saudi authorities anticipate attracting more than $15 billion in data centre investments by 2030 to boost domestic capacity from ~300MW to ~1,300MW. By financing massive deployments, the Saudi government is rapidly establishing the Kingdom as a locus of innovative data centre activity.