Sustainable European Data Centers: evroc Counters AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud

evroc, a startup backed by EQT Ventures and Norrsken VC, is striving to build Europe's first sovereign hyperscale cloud business that leverages sustainable energy, the company said.

In a prepared statement about the business, evroc founder and CEO Mattias Åström said: "Status quo is not an option for Europe. We want to build a better cloud that is secure, sustainable, and sovereign, and with that, power Europe's digital economy."

Read between the lines, and evroc essentially wants to counter Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud on European soil. The company is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with a development office in Sophia-Antipolis, France.

evroc Funding and Green Cloud Services Strategy

After recently completing a seed funding round to build its launch team, evroc says the next business plan steps will:

• Raise and invest €3 billion over the next couple of years to develop and operate two hyperscale data centers – one in Northern Europe and one in Southern Europe.
• Establish eight higherscale data data centers and three development hubs across Europe that will employ a combined 3,000 people by 2028.
• Provide Europe digital sovereignty that is compliant with European privacy legislation.
• Build the "world's cleanest cloud by leveraging next-generation energy-efficient technologies to maximize its sustainability impact."

Green IT Strategy The game plan includes a "unique and proprietary eco load balancer solution," the company asserts.

The eco load balancer "enables data to flow seamlessly and securely between evroc's data centers based on where renewable energy is most readily available and affordable," evroc added.

Other than its investors, evroc did not mention specific technology partners involved in the cloud services build-out.

In a generic description, the company said its offerings include a "full suite of cloud services, integration to third party applications and a best-in-class developer experience."

Sustainable Data Center Startup: Executive Statements

In a prepared statement about the strategy, EQT Ventures Partner Ted Persson said: "evroc has spotted an exciting opportunity to make Europe a leader in cloud technologies by bringing together the continent's brightest minds, ambitious thinkers, and experienced entrepreneurs. We believe the next generation of European tech companies will be built on evroc's cloud services."

Added Tove Larsson, partner at Norrsken VC: "The data center industry is on par with the airline industry in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Data processing will continue to grow substantially over the coming decades, causing significant emissions and damage to our climate, unless we change direction. evroc's holistic strategy for clean energy usage, combined with the implementation of state-of-the-art energy efficiency technology, could set the standard for the entire industry."

Concluded evroc founder and CEO Mattias Åström: "The lack of home-grown hyperscale cloud providers poses a serious challenge for Europe. Not only because our citizens' data is placed under foreign ownership by companies operating under laws that conflict with European privacy legislation. It is also a real threat to our long-term competitiveness in a digital world where others are advancing much faster. Europe's digital economy must be built on a European foundation."

Mattias Åström's Sustainable Technology, Entrepreneurial Experience

Åström previously founded five businesses -- with energy efficiency at the core -- that were acquired by Apple, Nokia, Murata and Schneider Electric, his biography states. Four of those startups and exits involved:

1. Eta Wireless focused on power-efficient technologies for wireless communications devices. Acquired by Murata in 2021.
2. Eta Devices focused on power amplifiers for mobile base stations. Acquired by Nokia in 2016.
3. C3 Technologies focused on 3D mapping technology. Acquired by Apple in 2011.
4. Nordnav Technologies focused on GPS software. Acquired by Silicon Radio in 2007.

We could not determine the name of the fifth company that Åström previously launched and sold.

Meanwhile, evroc's financial backers -- EQT Ventures and Norrsken VC -- are well-known across multiple technology sectors.

Green Data Center Market Growth, Forecast and Options

Demand for sustainable data centers appears strong. Indeed, global spending on green data centers is expected to reach $267 billion by 2032, which represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.2% from 2021, according to Persistence Market Research.

With that growth opportunity in mind, numerous data center providers worldwide are pursing net zero and sustainable energy strategies.

Cloud-scale players such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure each have made major sustainability commitments. Regional data center providers are also making moves. A few examples:

• United States: Climate Adaptive Infrastructure (CAI), through a relationship with DigitalBridge, plans to invest up to $300 million in sustainable digital infrastructure. The first investment involves Switch, a 100% renewable-powered data center provider.
• Latin America: Aligned Data Centers in May 2023 completed the acquisition of Latin America data center provider ODATA. Roughly 85% to 90% of the energy consumed by ODATA is renewable. The M&A deal was first announced in December 2022. Financial terms were not disclosed.
• Africa: Raxio Data Centres has lined up a US$170 million debt facility to further expand operations across Africa. The twist? The debt facility -- involving Roha Group, Meridiam, Proparco and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund -- is tied to various sustainability and ESG (environmental, social & governance) goals.
• Brazil: Scala Data Centers has achieved 100% Scope 3, as recommended by the GHG Protocol.
• Europe: AQ Compute and CBRE in 2022 partnered as part of a push to make AQ Compute a "pan-European leader in providing global clients with data centre services." All of the AQ Compute data centers are expected to leverage 100 % renewable energy, the companies said.
• Europe: Alces Flight and EcoDataCenter partnered to provide customers with "best-of-breed managed services and sustainable computing for their private research clouds," the two companies said.

Evroc: Next Data Center Business Move

Eager to jump into the market, evroc plans to test its software stack in 2023 with selected customers across the government, military, financial services and automotive sectors, the startup said. Stay tuned for updates.