What Is a Neocloud?
A neocloud is a cloud provider built from the ground up around GPU compute for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing workloads. Unlike hyperscalers such as AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, which offer broad service portfolios spanning storage, databases, enterprise software and compute, neocloud operators focus almost entirely on deploying tightly integrated clusters of advanced GPUs, high-bandwidth memory, low-latency networking and efficient cooling systems.
The term has gained traction globally since 2024 as demand for AI training and inference infrastructure outpaced what enterprises could procure cost-effectively from the major public clouds. Equinix defines a neocloud as "a vendor that offers AI-specific infrastructure and services," noting that because GPUs are the dominant processor type in AI today, most neoclouds specialise in delivering GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS). DriveNets describes them as providers that "primarily offer GPU-as-a-Service" and emerged in response to the AI gold rush. ABI Research forecasts that North America accounts for 88% of total neocloud GPUaaS revenue in 2026, with that share dropping to 72% by 2030 as other regions, including Asia-Pacific, scale sovereign cloud capacity.
In Australia and New Zealand, the Integral Advice 2025 Neocloud Study found that 84% of organisations surveyed currently use GPUaaS or intend to do so by 2027. The study identifies three emerging provider types: infrastructure players, platformers and aggregators, and forecasts a 17% compound annual growth rate in enterprise compute demand through 2027.
Who Are the Players in Australia?
Five operators are actively building or operating neocloud capacity on Australian soil as of Q1 2026. Their approaches, capital structures and facility partnerships differ significantly.
Firmus is the largest-capitalised neocloud play in Australia. Through Project Southgate, a strategic alliance with CDC Data Centres and NVIDIA, the company has committed to 1.6 GW of planned AI factory capacity across Tasmania, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra. The first deployment at Southgate Melbourne features approximately 18,500 NVIDIA GB300 GPUs scheduled to come online by April 2026, with a multi-billion-dollar customer contract already signed. A greenfield campus in Tasmania will host approximately 36,800 GB300 GPUs by late 2026. The entire programme is backed by a USD 10 billion debt facility led by Blackstone and Coatue. Firmus has publicly stated it is targeting an ASX IPO in mid-2026.
Sharon AI (Nasdaq: SHAZ)
Sharon AI is the first Nasdaq-listed neocloud operator with live GPU infrastructure inside an Australian Certified Strategic facility. The company deployed 1,024 NVIDIA B200 GPUs at NEXTDC's M3 data centre in Melbourne and has signed a 50 MW expansion agreement with NEXTDC, targeting capacity for more than 20,000 GPUs. In February 2026, Sharon AI partnered with Cisco and NVIDIA to launch Australia's first Cisco Secure AI Factory at NEXTDC's S3 data centre in Sydney, running 1,024 Blackwell Ultra GPUs. The company secured USD 770 million in non-dilutive capital and has flagged additional cluster deployments throughout 2026.
Brisbane-based Polaris Data Centre, Queensland's largest privately owned data centre, has branded its own NeoCloud platform offering AI-ready, GPU-optimised infrastructure. The facility holds HCF certification. Polaris positions NeoCloud as a scalable platform with hybrid and multi-cloud integration, built-in compliance and disaster recovery, and on-demand GPU resources for AI and machine learning workloads.
UK-headquartered Nscale is active in Australia, offering GPU cloud services focused on AI training and inference. While the company does not publicly disclose its Australian megawatt footprint, it is listed among active neocloud providers in the APAC region and is building sovereign-capable infrastructure across multiple markets.
Florida-based Vultr operates GPU cloud infrastructure in Australia as part of its global network of 32 data centre locations. Vultr offers NVIDIA A100 and H100 GPU instances on demand, targeting AI developers and enterprises seeking flexible, pay-as-you-go compute without long-term commitments.
Macquarie Data Centres (Enabling Infrastructure)
While not a neocloud operator itself, Macquarie Data Centres has explicitly identified neocloud as a target use case for its new IC3 Super West facility in Sydney, a 47 MW sovereign data centre hosting the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA. Macquarie describes the facility as supporting "enterprise AI, private AI and neocloud" workloads within government-grade, Certified Strategic infrastructure. IC3 Super West is expected to open by mid-2026.
Why This Matters for Australian Infrastructure
Neocloud operators are signing multi-megawatt, long-term leases that fundamentally change the economics of Australian colocation. Firmus alone has committed to 150 MW at its Melbourne facility with a single hyperscale customer. These are not speculative commitments. They are backed by multi-billion-dollar contracts and institutional-grade debt facilities. For colocation providers, neocloud tenants represent a new demand tier sitting between traditional enterprise and hyperscaler, requiring higher power density, liquid cooling capability and direct connectivity to GPU fabric.
The certification gap
Not all neocloud capacity is equal from a sovereignty perspective. Sharon AI's deployments at NEXTDC M3 and S3 sit inside facilities with Certified Strategic status under the Australian Government's Hosting Certification Framework (HCF). Firmus operates through CDC, which also holds Certified Strategic certification. But as neocloud builds accelerate, particularly greenfield developments like Firmus Tasmania, there is a growing gap between "AI-ready" and "Certified Strategic." For government and regulated enterprise buyers, that gap is becoming the most important procurement question in Australian infrastructure.
The connectivity dependency
AI workloads at scale require not just compute but resilient, high-capacity connectivity between clusters. SUBCO's SMAP hypercable, delivering more than 400 Tb of inter-capital capacity by May 2026, directly serves this need. SUBCO has confirmed that neocloud providers are among its anchor customers. The diverse routing between Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney that SMAP provides reduces a critical single-point-of-failure risk for operators running distributed GPU clusters across multiple Australian cities.
The sovereign AI imperative
Australia's regulatory environment, including the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act (SOCI Act) and the Hosting Certification Framework, creates a structural demand floor for sovereign AI compute. Neocloud operators with Australian-domiciled infrastructure, Certified Strategic facility partnerships and onshore data processing commitments are positioned to serve this demand in ways that offshore hyperscaler regions cannot. As an example, Sharon AI's Cisco Secure AI Factory was explicitly designed to keep all data processing and model training within Australian borders.