DayOne Seeks US$2 Billion for Global Data Center Expansion
Singapore-based data center operator DayOne Data Centers is currently in advanced discussions to raise over US$2 billion (S$2.6 billion) in an significantly upsized Series C funding round to robustly support its aggressive expansion into key international markets.
According to sources closely familiar with the matter, this potential fund-raising initiative could propel the company’s valuation to approximately US$10 billion, signaling strong investor confidence in the rapidly expanding digital infrastructure sector across Asia and beyond.
The substantial new funding round is anticipated to be anchored by the firm’s existing major Investment backers, who are keen to double down on the company’s growth trajectory, although several new strategic investors are also expected to join the syndicate.
The confidential talks have reached an advanced stage, with the prospect of a deal being signed before the close of 2025, pending final board approvals.
This follows earlier reports from September, which indicated DayOne was initially targeting at least US$1 billion, underscoring the escalating demand for high-quality data center capacity driven by the surge in artificial intelligence infrastructure spending globally.
The company, which was rebranded as DayOne at the start of 2025 (previously known as GDS International or GDSI), boasts a strategic operational hub of data centers across major Southeast Asian Economy nodes including Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, complemented by a growing presence in Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, and Finland, confirming its aspiration to be a global player.
Investor Confidence Rises Amid AI-Driven Infrastructure Boom
Global Investment interest in data centers is currently surging, largely fueled by the massive infrastructure needs of companies rapidly deploying artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, a trend that is directly benefiting operators like DayOne.
The firm already enjoys strong backing from a consortium of sophisticated global investors, reflecting its strategic positioning in high-growth markets.
Its current major shareholder is the Chinese data center operator GDS Holdings, which maintains a substantial 35.6 per cent stake, acquired after participating in DayOne’s preceding fund-raising rounds.
This distinguished list of early backers also includes prominent names such as Boyu Capital, Coatue Management, Hillhouse Investment, SoftBank Vision Fund, and Citadel chief executive Ken Griffin, demonstrating cross-border recognition of the company’s long-term Business potential in digital infrastructure.
The valuation of GDS Holdings itself has performed strongly, with its shares rallying approximately 46 per cent in Hong Kong during 2025, resulting in a market value of about US$6.9 billion for the Chinese parent, which is also listed in the US market.
The intense competition and high valuation in the data center market were recently highlighted by several major transactions, including Bain Capital’s agreement in September to sell its China data centers to Shenzhen Dongyangguang Industry in a deal valued at about US$4 billion.
Furthermore, the market saw a blockbuster acquisition in October, where an investor group, including Singapore’s Temasek and technology giant Nvidia, agreed to purchase Aligned Data Centers in a monumental transaction valued at US$40 billion, setting new benchmarks for the sector’s capital Finance and growth potential.
DayOne’s Strategic Position in Asia’s High-Growth Data Market
DayOne Data Centers has cultivated a strategically advantageous position within Asia’s fragmented yet rapidly expanding data market, benefiting significantly from the region’s accelerating digital transformation and the concentration of high-growth Economy markets.
Its footprint, centered around the Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia hub, captures three of Southeast Asia’s most crucial and digitally active markets, which are experiencing unprecedented demand for cloud Business services and localized data processing capabilities.
The company’s prior successful fund-raising rounds, which involved major global private equity and venture capital firms, provided the necessary Investment capital to solidify this regional presence and begin its initial international foray into markets like Thailand and Japan.
The potential Series C funding of over US$2 billion is earmarked to substantially deepen this international expansion, allowing DayOne to aggressively scale capacity to meet the exponentially growing needs of hyperscale cloud providers and AI enterprises.
This scaling is essential as the demand for advanced data centers, capable of handling the high-power density required by modern AI processors, far outstrips current regional supply.
By securing this substantial Finance injection, DayOne is not only validating its current valuation but is also positioning itself to become a market leader capable of competing with global infrastructure giants, ensuring it plays a pivotal role in shaping the future digital Economy of the Asia-Pacific region.
The strategic pivot from GDSI to DayOne reflects a commitment to an independent, globally ambitious Business model built on high-quality, scalable digital infrastructure assets.
Regional Market Impact: Intensified Capacity Wars and Power Draw Contention
The upsized US$2 billion Series C raise by DayOne, valuing it potentially at $10 billion, signifies an aggressive escalation in the Southeast Asian data center Capacity Wars, directly challenging established regional players and creating significant Investment implications across the regional Business landscape.
Specifically, the funds are expected to be deployed rapidly in tier-1 and tier-2 metros in Indonesia (e.g., Jakarta, Bekasi) and Malaysia (e.g., Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur), where land and power utility access are fiercely contested commodities.
The move by DayOne intensifies competition for hyperscale contracts, likely compressing long-term Colocation margins but accelerating the rate of digital infrastructure maturity in the ASEAN region.
From a Finance perspective, the massive capital infusion places pressure on publicly traded regional competitors to pursue similar capital raises or consolidation to maintain competitive capex deployment rates, with a direct correlation to the high AI-driven demand metric (power density measured in kW/rack).
A critical constraint emerges in utility access: DayOne’s expansion directly exacerbates the existing power grid contention in markets like Singapore and parts of Indonesia, where securing multi-megawatt capacity blocks for AI-ready data centers requires sophisticated grid-level Investment and coordination with sovereign utility providers.
The large-scale capital deployment by DayOne is a powerful indicator that the Economy of digital infrastructure in Southeast Asia is transitioning from a high-growth sector to a strategic national priority, necessitating new regulatory and sustainability frameworks to manage the immense power draw and environmental impact of this accelerated AI-driven Investment cycle.
