Nautilus Data Technologies, a US-based developer of data centre cooling technology, has raised $26m in a series C round that included $10m from Keppel Data Centres, a subsidiary of conglomerate Keppel.
The round included $5m from Ireland’s sovereign wealth fund, Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, as well as funding from investment firm Emerson Collective’s sustainability initiative, Emerson Elemental, and undisclosed additional participants.
Founded in 2013, Nautilus is developing data centre coolers that uses a direct water supply that is filtered and recirculated. The technology is expected to be more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly than air-based models where water is wasted through evaporation.
The cash will be used to construct data centres that either float on water or which are close to an aquatic source. Nautilus will also open a prefabrication base in Ireland, and ISIF expects the first Irish-built data centres to generate up to $40m in revenue a year.
Nautilus previously raised $10m from an unnamed energy sector investor in a 2015 series B round, after unnamed backers had supplied it with $2m in series A funding the year before, according to deals database PitchBook. Keppel invested its portion of the series C round in September 2017.
James Connaughton, president and CEO of Nautilus, said: “As a cleantech businessman, a market driven environmentalist and a first generation Irish-American, I am personally proud to be part of Ireland’s growing global leadership in technology innovation, advanced workforce capability and environmental sustainability.”
– The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global Government Venturing.