CIM Lifts Funding for Novva Data Centers US Expansion to $450M

Infrastructure owner/operator and developer CIM Group has announced an additional investment of up to $355M to fund Novva Data Centers expansion in the US. The infusion of funds brings the total equity CIM has committed to the expansion in the past two years to $450M.

The funding will support Novva’s plans to expand its data center portfolio in the US to offer 1,000 MW of designed capacity for purpose-built data centers by 2027 at several strategic locations to be named at a later date.

CIM and Novva have an ongoing partnership to offer “wholocation” services to data center clients of any size and scalability needs—those requiring from 1 server cabinet to 1,000+.

Wholocation refers to a combination of wholescale scale and retail colocation, a concept now being deployed at Novva’s existing data center campuses in Colorado Springs and West Jordan, UT.

“This equity investment from CIM Group will allow Novva to continue delivering our vision of providing the best wholesale and multi-tenant colocation infrastructure services to clients at the lowest possible cost,” Novva CEO Wes Swenson said, in a statement.

Novva was founded in 2020, backed by $100M in funding from its founders and CIM Group. In August 2021, it announced the acquisition of its 40-acre Colorado Springs location; one month later, Novva opened its flagship, 100-acre, 180 MW West Jordan campus.

The West Jordan campus, located in a suburb of Salt Lake City, opened last September with 330K SF of data center space, which is expanding this year to 1.5M SF. The expansion will make the campus the largest in Utah.

 Novva’s campuses offer build-to-suit options, which the company says can reduce its customers’ “go-live” timeframes to 12 months from the 36-48 months it can take in facilities that are not built to suit. 

Novva’s campuses are powered by renewable energy and offer high density capacity and waterless cooling.

According to the company, the West Jordon facility’s cooling system takes advantage of the high altitude and low-temperature, low-humidity climate of the region. The waterless cooling system use a combination of surrounding air, heat exchange coils and refrigerant to keep the data center campus cool.

Novva also has introduced technical innovations at its campuses, including robotic “monitoring dogs,” autonomous aerial drones and augmented reality training.

A robot dog named WIRE greets patrons by name at the West Jordan campus and verifies they are registered for entry. A digital drone equipped with 4K live video, infrared and night vision provides security at the facility, detecting air leaks and temperature anomalies at the campus as well as cars and human heat signatures.

According to Novva’s website, the West Jordan campus also boasts “sleek Scandinavian Asian minimalist” design and offers amenities including gaming and fitness facilities as well as nearby waterfalls and mountain trails.