As an investor, there is nothing quite like entering a promising new market that already feels like home. That is how it felt when Goldacre recently announced its Middle Eastern NED data centre platform and a partnership with The Levinstein Group, including a new £145 million data centre to be built in Netanya, Israel.
Israel is far from a frontier investment destination. Its tech ecosystem is world renowned, as are its diverse young talent pool and equally vibrant social scene brought about by bright (younger than I am) people moving there to pursue careers in exciting new disciplines.
I will leave Israel’s famous party scene to reels on certain image-led news and networking platforms for now, but people and places are more interconnected to our strategy than you might first think.
All these tech start-ups, quantum computers and after-hours partygoing dev brains need data – enormous amounts of data.
Ironically for such a rapid digital growth economy, Israel’s data connectivity and storage has catching up to do as demand continues to soar. That is where we see an opportunity to act.
Israel is one of the most significant technological hubs in the Middle East. Its data centre market measured USD 337 million in 2021 and investment is expected to reach USD 628.8 million by 2027.
There are already huge data centre sector developments underway in the country. Plans for its first hyperscale site were announced a year ago. An ambitious first-ever cable connecting Israel and Saudi Arabia, announced earlier this year, could boost data speed and reliability for countless people and businesses. We now read about US mega corporations – propelled by the Nimbus government cloud tender last year – doubling down on colocation commitments with regularity.
So, what makes Goldacre’s entrance different?
- People – The Noé Group has been investing into Israel for years and has first rate people on-the-ground. The Levinstein Group is an ideal local partner too, having successfully dealt in Israeli commerce and real estate for 75 years.
- Knowledge – Goldacre is a proven ground-up developer and investor. We have taken the customer driven approach long established in the UK market with Kao Data and applied it to the opportunity. We know what international customers want and we deliver.
- Risk – After all, well-trodden paths won’t yield new outcomes.
- And of course, timing – With data centre demand soaring and political and business ties aligning, this is the right time for us to take experts, deep knowledge and calculated risk to seize the opportunity.
Announcing our first site in Israel is a great way to end 2022 and more importantly an exciting prospect for 2023.
First phase development is on track to begin in summer 2023 during which we will construct a fully secured 16MW stand-alone facility across 50,000 square metres while retaining capacity for growth should we wish to expand in future. It will host hyperscale and large wholesale clients with two electricity feeds achieving top levels of power usage effectiveness.
Supporting Israel’s rapid digital transformation is an exciting journey we are eager to take and – unlike the very notion of me appearing alongside #NetanyaNightlife on TikTok – we have the deep knowledge, people, risk appetite and ideal timing to make it happen.
David Bloom | 20.12.22