Datagrid was founded in 2021 by Rémi Galasso, founder of the Hawaiki submarine cable, and CallPlus founder Malcolm Dick. Galasso is chief executive and chair; Perrine Dhalluin is head of construction and Benjamin Black head of technology. Its Singapore-based backer BW Digital held about 37.5 per cent, an interest Galasso's DG Founders vehicle moved to acquire in 2025. Mercury became a shareholder in July 2026.
Datagrid's flagship project sits on 49 hectares at Makarewa, about 7 kilometres north of Invercargill in Southland. Environment Southland, Southland District Council and Invercargill City Council granted resource consent in March 2026 on a non-notified basis, which RNZ and 1News reported as the first New Zealand data centre approved that way. The site holds a 360MW grid connection and an initial data centre design of 280MW, a distinction Galasso set out on 24 July 2026. HEB Construction began the horizontal works in August 2026, and the company targets a first phase opening in 2028, with the University of Otago named as a future anchor tenant.
Financing
Datagrid has not confirmed the capital for the build. Public reporting carries cost estimates between about NZ$3.4 billion and about NZ$5.1 billion depending on the scope described, none of them confirmed by the company.
Energy
Datagrid holds a 15-year power purchase option with Mercury for up to 140MW, covering about half of the initial 280MW design. It is an option rather than a firm supply contract. Mercury also paid US$30 million for 12.7 per cent of the company in July 2026, four months after the power agreement was signed, becoming the first outside shareholder taken on since the BW Digital buyout began. Galasso has said the arrangement does not lock Datagrid in, that the company can continue to work with other gentailers, and that information barriers are in place to keep competition between generators fair. Datagrid describes the campus as running on more than 90 per cent renewable electricity, drawing on Manapouri hydro generation.
Water
Datagrid's Environment Southland permit, dated 11 March 2026, sets a ceiling of 7 litres a second, or 604,800 litres a day and about 220 million litres a year. A consent ceiling is a maximum rather than a forecast of use. Galasso has said Southland's climate allows a closed-loop liquid system cooled by outside air, so that for most of the year the campus would draw no water at all, and that the facility is engineered to target one of the lowest water consumption figures in the Asia Pacific. He has said firm volumes will follow once the design is finalised.
Connectivity
Datagrid contracted phase one of the Tasman Ring Network with ASN and OMS Group on 31 July 2026: a 2,300km system running from Invercargill to a landing at Torquay in Victoria, specified at a minimum of eight fibre pairs and at least 160Tbps of design capacity, with service targeted for 2029. It would be the first international submarine cable to land in the South Island. The wider system of about 6,000 kilometres is an option to build at a later stage rather than a contracted commitment. Galasso has put the latency reduction against North Island routes at up to 45 per cent, and Datagrid head of connectivity Pierre-Emmanuel Goiffon, speaking to iTnews on 31 July 2026, put it at a minimum of 19 milliseconds round trip. Galasso describes the Southland campus as the anchor tenant that makes the cable viable.