Birch Infrastructure
Birch Infrastructure develops, owns, and operates the energy and water infrastructure required to supply hyperscale data centers, which in turn are at the heart of the fourth industrial revolution. Birch assumes and manages the risk inherent in delivering data centers with mission-critical utility service, thereby insulating both its customers and community-hosts from the uncertainty of the availability and price of energy and water. As a public benefit company, Birch is committed to minimizing the environmental impact of providing energy and water to data centers, contributing to the economic development of the rural communities in which the company operates, and promoting the health and well-being of its employees.
Birch Infrastructure’s mission is to facilitate the deployment of mission-critical infrastructure on behalf of cloud providers, and, by owning the infrastructure needed to serve the load, protect customer and community alike from long-term utility price risk. This infrastructure is powered by Renewable Energy, and their service delivery will be based on the principles of Reliability, Sustainability, Adaptability, and Affordability.
Traction
90% of the data stored in data centers around the globe was created between 2015-2017. This extraordinarily prolific rate of data creation, and the necessity for infrastructure to support it, shows no sign of slowing down. In fact, by 2025 data centers around the globe will consume more energy than the nation of India. Naturally the cost associated with operating these data centers will increase in kind, with the energy spend associated with running data centers set to rise to ~$97 billion by 2025. Birch Infrastructure is set to reduce this cost by empowering IT companies to power their data centers more efficiently and sustainably.
Team
Birch Infrastructure’s executive team consists of the company’s founders. They initially met while working for other companies on a project together. They identified a problem with the way data centers were powered and established Birch Infrastructure to solve that problem.
Jim Howell, CEO – Jim has a background in finance and has previously worked within internationally-renowned banks. He transitioned into development roles in the energy industry, overseeing the sale of two companies. He was previously sPower’s Chief Development Officer before establishing Birch.
Ken Davies, Chief Strategy Officer – Ken is an experienced energy strategist and leader in his field. He has occupied energy strategy and research positions within some of the world’s largest tech companies, including Google and Microsoft. He also sits on several advisory boards for renewable-energy focused enterprises.
Dave Crowley, CTO – Dave is a seasoned business development and sales leader. He has directed sales teams with nationwide remits, managed key customer and vendor relationships, and led sales and development strategy. Dave is a former Microsoft Executive, leading their Global Network Acquisition division. He leverages this experience in his current role within Birch.
Funding
Birch is currently in the process of raising $200-$500 Million.
With this additional funding they will look to expand their infrastructure portfolio to include additional data center campuses, pump hydro backup energy, solar and wind farms, and substations.
They envisage growth of 3-400% over the next two years. Their team is currently at twenty-two people, and to meet operational demands they will have to hire the right talent. Their goal over the next six to twelve months is to continue expanding their employee base while capturing market share within the existing markets where they can service the renewal energy. Birch is employee-owned and operates with that value mantra.
Revenue Model
Birch’s revenue streams are based on the supply of Wholesale Power, Retail Power, and Data Center Development (Wholesale, Retail and Backup), all powered by renewable energy.
Details
For more information visit:
birchinfrastructure.com