Firmus: 10 Key Things You Must Know

Overview

Firmus is a pioneering technology company specializing in creating highly efficient AI infrastructure through advanced data center solutions. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Saint Leonards, Australia, with significant operations in Singapore and Tasmania, Firmus has rapidly positioned itself as a leader in the development of energy-optimized AI data centers or "AI Factories." Noteworthy for its innovative use of liquid cooling technologies and proprietary management software, Firmus aims to maximize AI compute performance while minimizing energy consumption and costs. As demand for AI workloads skyrockets globally, Firmus stands out by delivering sustainable, low-cost infrastructure that supports next-generation AI technologies. This article uncovers 10 key facts about Firmus, illuminating its technology, business achievements, and future vision.

1. Founding and Background

Firmus was founded in 2019 by Australian entrepreneurs Oliver Curtis, Tim Rosenfield, and Jonathan Levee with a vision to revolutionize AI infrastructure. Initially focused on data center cooling solutions for bitcoin mining in Tasmania, the company quickly pivoted towards AI-optimized data centers, leveraging advanced immersion and liquid cooling techniques. Headquartered in Australia, Firmus also maintains a significant presence in Singapore. The founders combined expertise in engineering, finance, and technology to create a platform that integrates hardware, cooling, and software for AI workloads. Within a few years, Firmus gained significant attention for its innovative approach to tackling the energy challenges of AI data centers.

2. The AI Factory Concept

At the core of Firmus’ technology portfolio is the "AI Factory"—a new class of data centers designed specifically for artificial intelligence workloads. These AI Factories feature liquid-everywhere cooling infrastructure that improves energy efficiency by up to 61% compared to traditional air-cooled data centers. The design focuses on maximizing GPU density and throughput while minimizing total cost of ownership (TCO). The AI Factory is supported by Firmus’ proprietary AI FactoryOS™, an operating system that manages cooling, energy grid integration, AI hardware, and cluster uptime to ensure peak operational efficiency and profitability.

3. Breakthrough Cooling Technologies

Firmus is a leader in immersion and direct-to-chip liquid cooling platforms. Unlike traditional cooling methods that rely on air circulation, Firmus uses liquid mediums to dissipate heat directly at the source — GPUs and CPUs — allowing denser packing and reducing energy spent on cooling. Their patented "liquid everywhere" approach includes one-phase and two-phase cooling technologies, drastically cutting energy use per unit of AI compute. This innovative cooling infrastructure not only lowers operating costs but significantly reduces the environmental impact of large-scale AI computing.

4. Major Funding and Unicorn Status

In September 2025, Firmus raised $330 million in a significant equity funding round that brought its valuation to approximately $1.9 billion, officially granting the company unicorn status. The funding round was led by major investors including US chip maker Nvidia and Australian institutional investor Ellerston Capital. This capital injection is earmarked to accelerate the rollout of Australia’s first sovereign green AI factory in Tasmania, known as "Project Southgate," which plans to deploy 36,000 NVIDIA GPUs powered by renewable energy. This major milestone reflects investor confidence in the scalability and sustainability of Firmus’ AI infrastructure technology.

5. Project Southgate – Australia's Green AI Factory

Project Southgate is Firmus’ flagship initiative, aiming to build Australia’s largest green AI factory in northern Tasmania. The factory will house tens of thousands of advanced GPUs optimized for AI training and inference workloads, integrated with renewable energy sources to minimize carbon footprint. Designed as a modular and scalable facility, Project Southgate is set to deliver cutting-edge compute density with significant efficiency gains, creating hundreds of local jobs and fostering sovereign AI infrastructure capabilities in Australia. The project also aligns with Tasmania's ambitions to be a global leader in sustainable AI infrastructure.

6. Advanced Software Management – AI FactoryOS™

To complement its physical infrastructure, Firmus developed AI FactoryOS™, the world’s first monitoring and management operating system tailored for AI data centers. This software suite controls hardware, cooling systems, energy grid flows, and cluster performance in real-time, maintaining uptime exceeding 99.9%. AI FactoryOS™ enables seamless operation of thousands of GPUs, embodying an intelligent approach to balancing AI workloads with energy efficiency metrics. It also facilitates easy retrofit of legacy data centers into liquid-cooled AI factories, broadening access to advanced infrastructure.

7. Partnerships and Collaborations

Firmus maintains strategic partnerships with global technology leaders such as NVIDIA and ST Telemedia Global Data Centres. These collaborations help optimize the design, deployment, and operation of AI Factories using the latest GPU architectures and networking technologies. The company also works with the Tasmanian government and regulatory bodies to promote renewable energy use and sustainable practices in data center development. Through research partnerships, including with Singapore's Home Team Science and Technology Agency, Firmus actively contributes to advancing public safety AI infrastructure and energy-efficient design principles.

8. Energy Efficiency Leadership and Industry Recognition

Firmus’s innovative AI infrastructure has been independently verified to use 61% less energy per FLOP (floating-point operation) compared to traditional data centers. This achievement has earned the company recognition in platforms like the APAC Cleantech 25, where it stood out for scalable and practical solutions in energy-efficient computing. The company has also been lauded for mastering service delivery that guarantees robust uptime and profit-focused cluster management. By leading the drive toward sustainable AI data centers, Firmus addresses one of the most critical environmental challenges in the technology industry.

9. The Team Behind Firmus

Led by co-CEOs Oliver Curtis and Tim Rosenfield, Firmus boasts an experienced leadership with backgrounds in engineering, AI infrastructure, and financial services. Curtis and Rosenfield have been instrumental in evolving the company’s vision while attracting significant investment. The company also prides itself on its engineering and global construction team, known as GECO, which focuses on building facility-scale AI Factories that are future-proof with regard to evolving AI hardware technologies. The leadership’s focus on innovation and sustainability drives Firmus’ ongoing growth and market differentiation.

10. Future Prospects and Market Impact

Firmus is positioned to play a defining role in the global AI infrastructure market. With rising AI workload demands worldwide, the need for sustainable, scalable, and cost-effective data centers is critical. Firmus’ advances in liquid cooling, modular factory design, and industrial software create a competitive advantage expected to expand with new deployments in Australia and Asia. The company aims for a 2026 public listing, which may further accelerate its growth trajectory. By championing sovereign AI infrastructure and energy-efficient compute, Firmus contributes to reshaping the future of AI deployment with economic and environmental benefits.

Conclusion

Firmus represents a remarkable convergence of technology innovation, environmental consciousness, and business acumen in the AI infrastructure domain. From its pioneering liquid cooling systems and AI FactoryOS™ software to its landmark Project Southgate in Tasmania, Firmus is setting new standards for energy-efficient, large-scale AI data centers. Its recent funding success and partnerships with industry leaders reflect a strong endorsement of its vision and capabilities. As AI continues to transform economies and societies, Firmus stands at the forefront, offering solutions that reconcile performance with sustainability. Will Firmus lead the charge in making AI infrastructure truly green on a global scale? The coming years will be critical in answering this question.