AI data centre startup targets $7bn ASX listing next month
Infrastructure builder Firmus plans to raise up to A$7.7bn in an October IPO, valuing the company at around $50bn.
Firmus, which builds energy-efficient data centres for artificial intelligence, is set for Australia's largest IPO in decades. Institutional investors will bid October 6-7, with retail subscriptions opening October 12-19.
The company's value has soared from A$1.85bn in September 2025 to A$15bn now. Analysts call this part of the AI bubble.
Founded by convicted insider trader Oliver Curtis, Firmus began as a bitcoin miner before shifting to AI infrastructure. Curtis served 12 months of a two-year sentence for insider trading in 2016.
He has since built partnerships with Nvidia, Megaport and CDC Data Centres. The startup's Project Southgate data centre rollout, with an A$73bn budget, has expanded to three facilities on Tasmania's north coast.
- around $50bn
- Target IPO valuation
- up to A$7.7bn
- Funds to be raised
- A$1.85bn
- Valuation September 2025
- A$73bn
- Project Southgate budget
Why it mattersThis IPO tests whether investors will bet billions on AI infrastructure with no revenue track record, and whether Curtis's criminal past affects governance.
AustraliaFirmus's Australian float would rival Telstra's 1997 listing as the country's largest IPO, signalling investor appetite for local AI data centre plays and creating a major new ASX-listed tech company.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 d ago
