Swedish Startup, Evroc Seeks to Build European Hyperscale Cloud, Raises $55 Million
Swedish startup, Evroc has raised $55 million in Series A funding to develop a European hyperscale cloud company. According to TechCrunch, the startup is laying ground for a “secure, sovereign and sustainable hyperscale cloud to reimagine the digital future of Europe.”
Europe-Grown Tech Stack
The startup raised the funding at a time when calls to develop a tech stack for Europe, independent of US big techs, have been on the rise. A European coalition, which draws membership from the region’s tech industry, has asked lawmakers to take radical action to lessen reliance on foreign-owned tech infrastructure.
The coalition advocates for Europe-grown alternatives to chips, apps, AI models, and cloud services. Evroc is seeking to leverage this momentum. The company plans to set up hyperscale data centers in Europe and provide a range of cloud services in Europe. Founded in 2023, the company plans to set up eight data centers by the year 2028.
Currently, Evroc has two co-location facilities in Paris and another two in Stockholm. The startup plans to establish two more facilities in Frankfurt by the close of quarter two of this year. Its primary focus is to complete and commence AI workloads in its data centers in France and Sweden by 2026.
“They [data centers] are designed for the energy density required for AI, where racks can consume 20 times what a traditional server rack can, Both will be equipped with liquid cooling but will also host compute and storage servers,” Evroc CEO and founder Mattias Åström said.
Åström says that the startup is already pursuing debut customers in sectors like defense, health care, and the public sector as it prepares to launch later this year. Evroc is targeting sectors that require high sovereignty of data.
Push for Data Residency
Discussions on digital sovereignty are not new in Europe. Many US big techs have embarked on establishing local infrastructure in the region as they seek to comply with EU’s data residency requirements.
Recently, OpenAI launched an offering that enables users to process and store data in Europe. But in light of the recent trade wars, Åström says that control of EU tech infrastructure is critical, and it’s more than just placing servers in the region.
“I simply want Europe to control its own destiny. And while we’re at it, try to build something that is better,” Åström said.
As the geopolitics continue to play out, this Åström’s argument continues to gain weight. A case in point is the executive order that President Donald Trump signed last month, approving economic sanctions against the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court (ICC).
Trump accused the court of taking baseless and illegitimate actions against Israel and the US. With the ICC relying heavily on Microsoft Azure cloud service to store its data, these sanctions will have an impact on how Microsoft supports the ICC.
Shift to Cloud Computing
The ongoing focus on AI means that businesses across the world must shift on-premise infrastructure to cloud computing in order to maximize on the technology. Several startups have already started building European cloud infrastructure. These include DataCrunch in Finland, FlexAI in France, and Nebius in the Netherlands.
As these companies focus on AI computing, Evroc is seeking to build a European AWS alternative. A bigger portion of the company’s workforce of over 60 individuals works in software development throughout the UK, France, and Sweden. Åström says the company didn’t plan on setting up a hub in London. However, the decision was made after it became important to help the company attract top tech talent.
“I’m actually very excited about our London office, that wasn’t part of the initial plan, but in order to get extremely smart people that are working for the hyperscalers, it was the right decision,” Åström added.
Evroc’s funding round attracted participation from US-European venture firms Giant Ventures, EQT Ventures, Norrsken VC, and Blisce. Astrom says the startup will use the funding to build a European software stack.
“Europe has a lot of data centers, but we don’t really have that cloud. This equity round is really helping us build the software stack,” he said.
