Nvidia in funding talks with Australian AI data centre firm

The float that did not happen

Firmus Grid Limited withdrew its application to list on the Australian Securities Exchange on 9 October 2026, citing market volatility and prevailing conditions that would not reflect the strength of its business and long-term growth outlook.^[1] The float had sought to raise about US$5 billion at a valuation of about US$30.6 billion, CNBC reported.^[4] The ABC reported that prospective investors pulled back over the $11 share price and concerns about an AI bubble.^[5]

Nvidia is now in talks to invest hundreds of millions of US dollars directly in Firmus, The Information reported, according to Bloomberg.^[6] Nvidia had already participated in the company's most recent private funding round two months before the float was pulled.

What Firmus builds and the scale of its operations

Firmus Technologies builds and operates hyperscale AI factories across Australia and the Asia Pacific under its Project Southgate initiative, deploying high-density GPU clusters integrated with its proprietary grid-aware Model-to-Grid orchestration software and underpinned by a sovereign advanced manufacturing supply chain.

In March 2026, Firmus announced a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar contract with a leading global technology company for approximately 18,400 Nvidia GB300 GPUs of capacity at its first Project Southgate deployment in Melbourne.^[2] Firmus said it had committed more than USD 300 million to its domestic supply chain to support up to 1.5 gigawatts of AI facility delivery per year in Australia, creating up to 400 advanced manufacturing jobs.^[2]

Co-Chief Executive Tim Rosenfield said the Melbourne agreement was "a defining milestone for Firmus and for Australia's role in the global AI infrastructure landscape", describing it as the second major contract secured under Project Southgate and reflecting "growing market conviction" in the company's approach.^[2]

Maas Group Holdings reported that its subsidiary JLE Group has received work orders from Firmus totalling approximately AUD 1.1 billion for modular Power Cubes, with AUD 373 million paid to date and completion expected by the end of calendar year 2027.^[1]

Nvidia's existing stake and the chipmaker-customer debate

On 7 August 2026, Firmus announced a fully subscribed USD 2 billion strategic equity round that included follow-on participation from Nvidia, alongside Coatue, Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and Jane Street, lifting the post-money valuation above USD 10.5 billion and bringing total new equity raised over the prior year to more than USD 3 billion.^[3]

Co-Chief Executive Oliver Curtis said the investment allowed Firmus to "move on multiple fronts at once", scaling across Australia while fast-tracking capacity to expand into the wider Asia-Pacific region, including early steps behind a recently announced Indonesia development serving AI-native customers.^[3]

Nvidia backing companies that buy its chips may sharpen questions about how much AI infrastructure demand depends on vendor financing rather than independent capital, investingLive's Eamonn Sheridan wrote.^[6] Whether the planned fresh investment proceeds, and at what valuation, will be settled through private negotiation rather than the scrutiny of a public market listing.