GTR raises £1.9bn to build power‑dense, AI‑ready data centres across Europe
This article covers Global Technical Realty, a data centre developer and operator startup, which has closed a growth funding round of £1.9 billion with commitments from KKR and Oak Hill Capital to expand its European data centre pipeline. The funding is intended to accelerate the startup's build-to-suit capacity for hyperscale, cloud and AI workloads, supporting customers seeking high-performance, power-dense infrastructure across Europe.
Global Technical Realty has closed a growth funding round of £1.9 billion as KKR and Oak Hill Capital commit fresh capital to expand the company’s European data centre pipeline. The funding is intended to accelerate GTR’s build-to-suit capacity aimed at hyperscale, cloud and AI workloads — a bet on rising demand for power-dense, AI-ready infrastructure across Europe.
Why it matters
Large, concentrated commitments into data centre platforms signal where institutional capital is flowing as AI workloads move from experimental to production scale. Providers that can deliver high-performance, power-efficient sites close to fibre and energy sources are becoming strategic assets for cloud providers and large AI customers. For Europe, where planning, grid capacity and sustainability goals add friction to new builds, a well-funded developer with an experienced operations team can move faster than smaller operators.
Inside the product
GTR operates as a built-to-suit developer and operator of mission-critical data centre capacity. Its offering targets hyperscale and cloud customers with power-dense facilities designed for AI and large-scale compute. The company’s model mixes greenfield development and market entry in both primary and emerging European locations, supported by a recruitment of experienced industry executives to its operating team.
Key product features cited in the announcement include design for high power density, rapid delivery of customised capacity and a pipeline of projects already under execution. These are capabilities that matter to customers buying capacity at multi-megawatt scale and to investors assessing execution risk.
Who are the investors?
KKR is making an additional $1.5 billion equity commitment to GTR and Oak Hill Capital will join the platform with approximately $400 million, according to the announcement. Those figures mirror the $1.9 billion combined commitment cited in the press release and are reported here as a combined £1.9 billion.
KKR is funding its contribution primarily from its Global Infrastructure Strategy. The firm highlighted a broad digital infrastructure footprint that includes multiple data centre platforms, fibre and wireless assets across regions. Oak Hill described the investment as its fourth platform in the data centre space, drawing on decades of activity in digital infrastructure and related sectors.
In the announcement, Andrew Peisch, Partner at KKR, said:
As rapid cloud growth continues and scaled AI demand begins to materialize, the need for high-quality, power-efficient, and scalable data center infrastructure in Europe has never been greater. GTR has established itself as one of Europe’s most capable developers of next-generation facilities, and we are thrilled to deepen our commitment to the platform while expanding our long-standing relationship with Oak Hill.
In the announcement, Adam Hahn, Partner at Oak Hill, said:
We are pleased to invest in GTR and collaborate with KKR to support a platform that sits at the intersection of cloud, AI, and critical infrastructure. GTR has built a differentiated platform with a strong management team, and we look forward to supporting the company as it continues to scale to meet the growing digital infrastructure needs across Europe.
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Founder perspective
In the announcement, Franek Sodzawiczny, CEO and founder of GTR, said:
This investment marks a major inflection point for GTR. Demand from hyperscale and AI-driven customers across Europe continues to accelerate, and this capital enables us to scale our team, deepen our operating capabilities, and move faster into new markets. KKR has been an exceptional strategic partner since our inception, and their renewed commitment positions us to execute against a substantial development pipeline. We are also delighted to welcome Oak Hill, whose deep experience in digital infrastructure and telecommunications will be invaluable as we scale the platform for its next phase of growth.
Sodzawiczny’s comments underline that the capital will be used for hiring, operational capability and new market entry — all areas that affect the speed at which developers can convert demand into live capacity.
The bigger picture
The transaction underscores sustained appetite from large infrastructure investors for assets that enable AI and cloud expansion. For Europe, that demand collides with a constrained planning environment, rising policy attention on grid resilience and decarbonisation, and competition for suitable sites and power. The deal reflects growing interest from AI investors and infrastructure funds in European digital infrastructure, and it adds capacity and capital to a market where lead times can be a competitive advantage.
As businesses and cloud providers place larger, more power-hungry workloads in Europe, the ability of developers like GTR to deliver customised, energy-efficient facilities will shape where and how that compute is hosted — with implications for energy policy, local jobs and regional competitiveness across the UK and the continent.
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