Trifalga DC partners with First Nations operator Kalinda IT on data centre rollout

01/12/2021

Trifalga DC has partnered with First Nations operator Kalinda IT to roll out a hyperscale and edge data centre portfolio across Australia.

The deal sees Trifalga provide the investment, deploying the capital and infrastructure for each site, while Kalinda IT, a certified Supply Nation member will provide tech services to manage, run and sell services within each asset.

Trifalga DC CEO Joe Abboud said an important first step in the ongoing relationship between Trifalga DC and Kalinda IT was the recent completion of a $3 million capital raise which would support the national rollout of the edge cloud.

“Trifalga DC led this investment raise to not only drive even more demand in edge computing and data centres across Australia, but to cement our relationship with Kalinda IT as we continue to offer support in an advisory capacity,” Mr Abboud said.

“Working with a First Nations IT supplier like Kalinda IT means we can offer our investors the opportunity to close the regional technology gap, support Indigenous data sovereignty and bring the disaggregated tech market at the edge and in regional locations together,” he said.

The deal was structured in collaboration with Reach Markets Executive Director and Head of Corporate Advisory Julius Cohen. Reach Markets was responsible for working with Kalinda IT and Trifalga to complete the raise, which was taken up in one day by Reach’s clients.

Reach Markets is a capital advisory and trading business based in Sydney and Melbourne.

“Reach Markets is excited by the growth in the edge computing space and to be able to partner with Kalinda IT, a business we believe will see a large uptick in revenue based upon some of the key relationships it has managed to secure and we look forward to supporting them as they grow,” Mr Cohen said.

Kalinda IT CEO Michael Dickerson said Kalinda IT is a certified Supply Nation Member and thanks to the recent capital raise is well on its way to reaching its goals of enhancing the capability and engagement of Indigenous IT initiatives throughout the country and creating pathways for employment for First Nations people around Australia.

“Trifalga DC has been a great supporter of our vision for digital inclusion, on country, in country and with country, along with a strong focus on meaningful Indigenous engagement within the IT sector,” he said.

“The team was instrumental in our capital raise, demonstrating deep engagement. Their commitment to Indigenous inclusion extends beyond mere words”.

Trifalga DC, part of Trifalga, will support businesses and investors by developing long-term infrastructure for the storage, processing and distribution of data.

Trifalga DC General Manager Josh Griggs said data centres were an innovative asset class that would provide new opportunities to investors who are interested in big growth.

“Investors understand big growth and what we want our current and potential investors to understand is that there is big growth in cloud technology,” he said.

“The team at Trifalga and Trifalga DC understand the future trends, challenges and opportunities of the cloud industry and know that every organisation will require more decentralised and pervasive compute power in the coming years.

“This is why we have expanded into this area, and we would encourage anyone with any interest, who is looking for our unique expertise, to get in touch.”

Trifalga and Trifalga DC’s first data centre project, a circa 74,000sqm facility in Rouse Hill, has already received DA approval. The sustainable design approach to the project means that approximately 3ha of biodiversity surrounding the centre will be maintained.

Trifalga DC is also in discussions with other stakeholders in regional parts of Australia, across several states.