Singapore Data Center Developer Racks Central Secures $1 Billion from China-ASEAN Fund for AI Expansion
June 15, 2026
Singapore Data Center Developer Racks Central Secures $1 Billion from China-ASEAN Fund for AI Expansion
Singapore-based data center developer Racks Central has secured $1 billion in investment from the China-ASEAN Investment Cooperation Fund (CAF) II, marking a significant milestone in the region’s push to build out AI-ready infrastructure. The funding will support the company’s expansion across a strategic corridor spanning Singapore; Johor, Malaysia; and Batam, Indonesia, targeting hyperscale and AI workloads that are driving unprecedented demand for data center capacity in Southeast Asia.
The investment underscores the growing importance of Southeast Asia as a global hub for digital infrastructure, as enterprises and cloud providers race to deploy AI applications. Racks Central, founded in 2014, currently operates a 12MW colocation data center in Singapore. With the new capital, the company is accelerating development of large-scale projects, including an AI-ready campus in Johor’s Iskandar Halal Park, dubbed RCJM1, which broke ground in December last year. That campus will feature four large-scale developments with a combined capacity of up to 510MW. Additionally, Racks Central plans to build a 95MW campus in Batam, further strengthening its regional footprint.
APAC real asset owner and manager ESR is acting as sub-advisor on the investment, bringing deep expertise in data center development across a pipeline of over 3 GW globally. “We are pleased to welcome ESR and CAF II as strategic partners,” said Bobby Wee, founder and CEO of Racks Central. “Their capital commitment and infrastructure expertise will support our ambition to develop a seamless, AI-ready data center corridor across Southeast Asia, enabling our customers to scale efficiently as regional digital demand continues to grow.” Jeffrey Shen, co-founder and co-CEO of ESR, added: “The rapid acceleration of AI adoption and digital transformation is fundamentally reshaping data center requirements across Asia-Pacific. As sub-advisor to CAF II, and with ESR’s data center development expertise, we are pleased to support Racks Central’s transformation to a scalable, regional data center platform for hyperscale and enterprise customers.”
The deal is part of a broader strategy by China to deepen economic ties with ASEAN nations through CAF II, a US dollar-denominated offshore multilateral cooperation fund majority-owned by Chinese financial institutions. This investment not only provides Racks Central with the capital needed to scale, but also signals growing confidence in Southeast Asia’s data center market as a critical enabler of the AI economy. With ESR’s track record in logistics and data center real estate—having shifted focus since 2021—the partnership is poised to create a robust platform for hyperscale and enterprise customers seeking low-latency, high-density computing capacity in the region.
Source: datacenterdynamics
