Series A investment will accelerate Layer 9 Data Centers’ plan to bring hyperscale capacity to Latin America.
BAJIO MX June 2, 2022 – Layer 9 Data Centers, a data center solutions provider led by industry veterans Alejandro Cantu, Michael Ortiz, and Joseph Ryan, and focused on delivering hyperscale capacity to the Latin American market, announced that the company has closed a Series A investment, led by a consortium of industry veterans, including DuPont Fabros, CPG, and LBS Power, based in Mexico City.
Layer 9 plans to use the proceeds from this Series A investment to secure the necessary critical infrastructure and land to support data center development in Latin America, beginning with a Phase 1 master plan to deliver two 32 Megawatt (MW) powered shell buildings with turnkey data center suite capacity in the Bajio region of Mexico in late Summer 2023.
In January 2022, Layer 9 secured a Power Purchase Agreement with access to no less to 100 MW of power, with exclusivity rights and secured options to acquire additional land and power in a second region of Mexico near Monterrey.
While the details of the energy agreement were not disclosed, Layer 9’s CEO, Michael Ortiz stated, “We are privileged to announce the closing of our highly anticipated Series A equity financing, which was oversubscribed and backed by a highly accredited investor group within the digital infrastructure sector, including LBS Power. With this capital, we look to launch our entry into Latin America, delivering hyperscale data center solutions within the country of Mexico catered to cloud service providers.”
The Bajio region of Mexico, which encompasses Guanajuato and Queretaro, is commonly regarded as the industrial heart of Mexico, and the region has become a major data-center alley for hyperscale data center operators, for global cloud service providers such as Microsoft and Amazon Web Services. The Bajio industrial corridor is a proven logistics hub with robust infrastructure in place that feeds both Mexico City and Monterrey.
According to the multinational consulting firm Deloitte, GDP in Latin America (LATAM) is expected to grow at least 3% in 2022, with Mexico leading the expansion. Gartner ranks LATAM the fastest growing region in the world relative to data consumption, ahead of both Africa and China.
With more than 660 million people, LATAM has twice the population of the US and a 59% Internet penetration rate. Mexico, Brazil, Chile, and Columbia have the lion’s share of people accessing the Internet for both B2B and B2C commerce.
Founded in 2020, Layer 9 took root around a team of industry veterans with hyperscale development and prefabricated U.S.-based infrastructure experience, focused on delivering a CSP-friendly and attractive data center topology.
By combining U.S. and Mexico-based expertise, Layer 9 aims to bring hyperscale capacity to LATAM beginning in 2023 and to deliver the highest standards of quality and predictability.
Layer 9 Data Centers plans to use this first phase of development to springboard the company’s plans for expansion into other Latin American markets and EMEA.