In the Nordics, around 200 data centres have been established over the past decade, with Sweden as a frontrunner
Swedish fund manager Areim has completed an additional capital raise for its Nordic data centre fund, Areim DC Fund, bringing total raised capital to €900 million. The capital raise was significantly oversubscribed and adds both Nordic and international institutional capital, further diversifying the investor base, according to the company. Over the past two years, Areim has raised more than €1.2 billion of capital to the platform, including equity, debt, and bond capital. Andulf Advokat provided legal counsel to the Areim in the capital raise.
Given the inexorable rise of greenhouse gas emissions due directly to data centre activity around the world, Ariem is keen to stress its approach is design and create sustainable data centres. The company acquired EcoDataCenter in 2018, which prides itself in being an industry leader in sustainable data centre solutions focused on being an integral part of the circular economy. Its data centres are spread across four sites at three strategic locations in Scandinavia.
“The continuous strong support we have received from both existing and new investors is a testament to the strategy of our dedicated data centre fund. The substantial interest in the Areim DC Fund and EcoDataCenter underlines the demand and attractiveness of the Nordic market for data centres,” said Ariel CEO Henrik Brinck Landelius.
“There is a lot of activity in this space, and the additional investments are important for growing the platform further,” he said. “I would also like to show my appreciation to the team for their successful fundraising. We are now well-positioned to continue to deliver value to customers, our investors, and other key stakeholders.”
EcoDataCenter has been fully owned by the Areim DC Fund since 2023. The companies said the raised capital will be used to continue expanding EcoDataCenter. “When we first decided to invest in EcoDataCenter, we saw the inherent potential in sustainable data centres to meet the rising demand for digital infrastructure, said EcoDataCenter chairman and founder of Areim Leif Andersson.
“A lot has happened since, and data centres now form fundamental building blocks of this infrastructure, regardless of the data loads’ origins and use. We look forward to continuing to lead the development of data centres in the Nordics as the demand for digitalisation and AI keeps rising,” he added.
Scandi growth
Geography ensures Scandinavia has sustainable energy advantages over hotter areas meaning the data centres in-region have the ability to push PUE boundaries and harness renewable energy for their operations. Last week Google Cloud launched its cloud region in Sweden – its 13th on Europe – and was quick to highlight how this might assuage data residency requirements and digital sovereignty concerns. The Swedish government’s AI Commission recently launched its AI roadmap proposing an AI factory for the public sector to collaborate on a common AI infrastructure.
Google said current projections indicate this region will operate at or above 99% carbon-free energy (CFE) in its first full year of operation in 2026, due to the Swedish grid’s electricity mix. It estimates its Swedish operations will have one of the highest Google carbon-free energy scores among all electricity grid regions where it operates. Google also announced its first Swedish power purchase agreement (PPA) in 2013, and has since signed additional long-term agreements with clean energy developers that enabled more than 700 MW of onshore wind projects in the country.
