Sector
Digital Infrastructure
Connectivity, compute, data centre and platform infrastructure businesses.
Overview
Infrastructure-led technology attracts a distinct investor base spanning growth equity, infrastructure capital and strategic parties, each with different return expectations and time horizons.
Market perspective
How capital is approaching the sector.
Demand driven by compute intensity has changed the profile of the sector, drawing in capital that historically sat outside technology investing altogether.
Contracted revenue, asset life and power availability are central to how these businesses are underwritten, and the diligence resembles infrastructure more than software.
Hybrid businesses combining an infrastructure asset base with a software layer require careful positioning, because the two components are valued on entirely different bases.
Areas of focus
- Compute and data centre platforms
- Connectivity and network services
- Cloud and edge infrastructure
- Infrastructure software layers
- Power, cooling and efficiency technology
The investor lens
- Contracted revenue and counterparty quality
- Asset life and replacement cost
- Power, land and supply constraints
- Capital structure and leverage capacity
- Utilisation and expansion economics
Capital considerations
Matching the business to the capital.
Infrastructure capital brings scale and long horizons but applies different covenants, governance and return requirements to growth equity. Understanding that difference early is essential.
The practical consequence for management teams is that the choice of capital provider is a strategic decision in its own right. Expectations on pace, governance, reporting and horizon vary considerably between pools of capital that appear interchangeable from the outside.
Coverage
Other sectors.
- Software & SaaSRecurring-revenue software businesses serving enterprise and mid-market customers.
- AI & DataApplied artificial intelligence, data infrastructure and machine learning businesses.
- FinTechFinancial technology, payments, capital markets software and embedded finance.
- HealthTechDigital health, clinical software and life-science technology businesses.
- ClimateTechEnergy, industrial decarbonisation and sustainability technology businesses.
Discuss your capital strategy.
A confidential conversation about objectives, timing and the options available.