Keppel T&T unit invests US$10m in data centre startup Nautilus Data Technologies

KEPPEL Telecommunications & Transportation Ltd's (Keppel T&T) unit invested US$10 million in data centre startup Nautilus Data Technologies Inc's (Nautilus) Series C preferred stock funding, the company said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Friday.

The investment by Keppel T&T's wholly owned subsidiary Keppel Data Centres on Thursday represents about 24.1 per cent of the total issued shares of Nautilus.

Nautilus is based in the US and is engaged in the business of developing water cooled data centres, including pre-fabricated, vessel-based facilities that can be rapidly deployed globally.

Nautilus was the first company to successfully launch a waterborne data centre prototype in 2015 incorporating its patented technology on a vessel. It is building its first commercial data centre at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Northern California, and deployment is scheduled for early 2018.

Wong Wai Meng, chief executive officer of Keppel Data Centres, said: "While meeting the digital economy's increasing demand for critical data centre infrastructure, we continuously look at better and more efficient ways of deploying data centre resources for our customers.

"This strategic investment in Nautilus will allow Keppel Data Centres to benefit from the development of innovative and sustainable data centre technology that has great potential for broader commercial application."