Investment Forum | London 2026

Our opening keynote panel for DCD Investment Forum London 2026 sets the scene for what we have learnt from the last 12 months whilst looking forward to the next. In an industry that is constantly evolving, how are operators and investors navigating the bottlenecks whilst capitalising on the tailwinds? Leaders from across the colocation, neocloud and investment markets sit down to discuss the core paths to continued expansion.

• How are leading operators and investors thinking about growth and expansion?
  Which markets are the future of Europe’s digital infrastructure journey, and how have dynamics changed in the last 12 months?
• Examining how operators are financing early stages of datacenter development as capital constraints remain a core bottleneck to growth
• Is there a necessity for moving beyond the "build first, connect later" model to onsite generation - is it a stop gap solution or a new permanent model?
• Do players who are more risk averse to emerging neocloud customers as opposed to established cloud players risk falling behind?

This panel focuses on the significant challenges of securing capital for massive, speculative developments, which is now exacerbated by the AI arms race.

• Analysing the increasingly common eye-water spreads and high cost of debt for speculative greenfield projects
• Managing the 18-month equity gap for developments before a pre-let is secured, which requires hundreds of millions in up-front capital
• Assessing the creditworthiness of AI-driven hyperscaler and neocloud investments, particularly given the long payback periods, increased capital intensity, and pressure on credit metrics
• How are operators dealing with the interplay between different sources of financing?

As power and land scarcity continue in the core FLAP D markets, this panel explores the high-growth potential in alternative European regions.

• Examining the rise of the Nordics due to a compelling story around low-cost operations, clean energy, and cool climates
• Examining the strategic focus on Central and Eastern Europe particularly for enterprise and edge data center platforms, and navigating the variable power dynamics in countries such as Poland
• How are operators entering new markets? Greenfield development versus M&A
• Exploring the balance between brownfield development opportunities in FLAP-D or expanding regionally into Tier 2 markets