I Squared Capital invests $500m

I Squared Capital’s ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund III has invested substantial equity, totaling over $500 million, to launch NLighten, an edge data center platform in Europe. The platform will provide colocation services to underrepresented cities and regions across Europe and aims to build, acquire, and operate multiple edge data center facilities.

The first locations for NLighten will be in Germany, with a plan to launch ten strategic sites in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich, Nuremberg, and Stuttgart during the latter half of 2023. The platform is led by former executives from Equinix, including CEO Harro Beusker and CTO Chad McCarthy.

The management team also includes Christian Zipp, former VP of Sales for Germany and the Netherlands at Digital Realty and former Regional VP of Sales in Germany at Equinix, and Martin Essig, former Managing Director of Telecity Germany.

According to Beusker, NLighten will bring about a significant change in the data center industry by being close to the customer, bringing connectivity ecosystems to regional markets, and actively supporting the energy transition. The NLighten platform is part of I Squared Capital’s worldwide data center portfolio, which also includes KIO in the Americas and BDx in Asia.

With this investment, I Squared Capital is positioning itself at the forefront of the edge data center industry, providing innovative solutions for the growing demand for data storage and processing.