Ocean-Based Data Center Startup Secures Backing From Tech Investors
Panthalassa plans to place data centers at sea for power and cooling. The company positions the approach as lower-cost than land-based or orbital alternatives. CEO Garth Sheldon-Coulson described the project as the first of its kind.
ecns.cnPanthalassa is developing data centers that would sit in the ocean and draw power and cooling directly from seawater. The company states this method could reduce costs compared with traditional land facilities. The startup has received funding from Peter Thiel and other technology investors. It presents the ocean approach as an alternative to other proposed data-center locations.
CEO and cofounder Garth Sheldon-Coulson said the company intends to operate in the open ocean. He described the plan as the first attempt to locate data centers in that environment. “What we’re doing is totally crazy,” Garth Sheldon-Coulson told Forbes. “We're the first company that’s going to the middle of the ocean to do this.”
