African data center provider Raxio Data Centres has raised another $46 million in equity funding.
The latest tranche of funds, from existing shareholders Roha and Meridiam, the latter of which invested $48m in the company in 2021. In April of this year, the company successfully secured a $170m debt facility from Proparco and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF).
Raxio has a live data center in Uganda, and is developing facilities in other African countries. It will using the funds to expand its data center portfolio in Africa and to cater to growing demand in the continent.
“This funding will help Raxio expand and consolidate its position as the provider with the widest geographic footprint of data centers in Africa at a time where demand for high-quality digital in Africa continues to grow from both international and local businesses," said Brooks Washington, partner at Roha.
"This investment marks a milestone achievement for Raxio," said Robert Mullins, CEO of Raxio Data Centres. "We are grateful for the trust and support of our existing shareholders, Roha and Meridiam. This capital injection will allow Raxio to continue to expand its presence across the continent and to deliver the resilient mission-critical environments that our customers are looking for."
In addition to the funding, Raxio has hired consultancy Egon Zehnder to find a replacement for CEO Mullins who is planning to step down in the second half of 2024.
Mullins said of his time at the company: “Building the company from scratch to where we are today has been extremely gratifying, and I have enjoyed every minute of it.
“With four more data centers coming online over the coming six to nine months, the job will increasingly shift to managing ongoing operations, alongside business development. Having secured all the funding needed to execute our current business plan it seemed like the natural moment for me to hand over the baton to someone else.”
Raxio was established in 2018 and is part of the US-based Roha Group investment firm.
Last year Raxio broke ground on data centers in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; Maputo, Mozambique, and Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The company also has data center developments in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Angola, and a live facility in Uganda.