Armada Raises $131 Million for Portable Data Centers in Remote Areas
Mobile data center start-up, Armada, a company specializing in the development and manufacture of mobile and relocatable data centers for use in remote or challenging environments, has secured $131 million in strategic funding. The investment will support the scaling of its latest product, Leviathan, described as a portable, megawatt-scale data center designed for artificial intelligence model training at the edge.
Armada produces Galleon ruggedized portable and relocatable data centers, which include Beacon (a briefcase-sized unit), Cruiser (in a standard 20-foot container), Triton (housed in a 40-foot container), and now Leviathan. According to the company, Leviathan delivers ten times the compute power of Triton.
Leviathan comprises two 45-foot containers: one equipped with racks for graphics and central processing units, another designated for power distribution and a 20-foot container for liquid cooling. The data centre is power-agnostic, capable of utilizing local or stranded power sources, such as natural gas and solar energy, making it suitable for areas without existing connectivity.
Galleon products have reportedly been deployed by the Navy, which is assessing these systems in various challenging environments. Dan Wright, Armada’s co-founder and CEO, stated that the technology is being used for data processing from autonomous technologies and drones in remote, disconnected locations.
Leviathan is presented as a more cost-effective alternative to traditional data centers, not requiring construction or permitting, allowing for deployment within weeks. It is described as modular, distributed, adaptable to various energy and connectivity conditions, and upgradable with new computing hardware and cooling technologies. The product is intended to facilitate AI training at large scale. Users can modify existing AI models or create new ones with Leviathan, processing data nearer to its source in an efficient manner.
Armada identifies two primary objectives: providing access to AI and hyperscale data centers for populations currently lacking such resources, and promoting the use of American-developed AI infrastructure globally
Participants in this funding round included new investors, Pinegrove, Veriten, and Glade Brook, along with continuing support from Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Shield Capital, 8090 Industries, Microsoft’s M12 venture fund, Overmatch, Silent Ventures, Felicis, and Marlinspike. The San Francisco-based firm’s total venture capital raised to date now exceeds $200 million.