🧱⚡️Blackstone Bets $4.6B on AI Data Centers

Dear {{First_Name|Friend}},

As we close the second week of April, physical AI pushes forward as EngineAI raises $200M in a Series B valuing the humanoid maker at $1.46B — with Apple supplier Luxshare joining as a strategic backer — and Eclipse Ventures closes a $1.3B dual fund to co-found and scale startups across robotics, defense, and autonomous vehicles. Data center infrastructure deepens its financialization, with Blackstone-backed QTS pulling $4.6B via a green bond for a Microsoft-anchored Georgia AI campus and Blackstone simultaneously filing to list BXDC, a dedicated data center REIT, on the NYSE.

Mobility diversifies its bets as Italian AV spin-off Niulinx lands Europe's largest-ever AV pre-seed at €38M ($44M) and French hybrid-electric aircraft startup Aura Aero raises €50M ($58M) to build simultaneous factories in Toulouse and Daytona Beach. The energy transition advances as Rolls-Royce SMR signs the UK's first small modular reactor deal at Wylfa backed by a £2.5B ($3.3B) government program, and ITM Power secures £86M ($116M) to expand its Sheffield green hydrogen electrolyzer factory by 1 GW.

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EngineAI's $200M Series B Puts Apple Supplier Luxshare in Humanoids
Apple's iPhone assembler Luxshare Precision just bet on bipedal robots — joining Henan Investment Group in a $200 million Series B that values Shenzhen's EngineAI at $1.46 billion. (Read more)

D-Robotics Closes $150M B2, Series B Totals $270M for Robot Chips
Didi Global co-led a $150 million round for the Horizon Robotics spin-out building the compute chips and developer tools that power third-party embodied AI robots. (Read more)

Eclipse Ventures Closes $1.3B Dual Fund for Physical AI
Eclipse split $591 million for early-stage bets and $720 million for growth plays — all targeting robotics, autonomous vehicles, defense, and industrial manufacturing under one "physical AI" thesis. (Read more)

Hermeus Raises $350M Series C for Autonomous Hypersonic Aircraft
Khosla Ventures led a $200 million equity plus $150 million debt package to fast-track Hermeus's autonomous, F-16-scale hypersonic Quarterhorse jets, pushing the company to a $1 billion valuation. (Read more)

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Stellanor Acquires Imagination Technologies' Hemel Hempstead Data Center
DWS-backed Stellanor snapped up Imagination Technologies' GPU-ready data center via a sale-and-service-back deal, growing to 11 UK facilities and 39 MVA of grid capacity just six months after launch. (Read more)

QTS Raises $4.6B Green Bond for Microsoft-Tied Georgia Campus
Blackstone-backed QTS pulled in roughly $12.5 billion in peak demand for a debut 10-year green bond, using the $4.6 billion raise to build a massive Microsoft-anchored AI data center campus in Fayetteville, Georgia. (Read more)

Blackstone Files S-11 to Launch BXDC, a Data Center REIT on NYSE
Blackstone is taking its data center empire public, filing with the SEC to list BXDC on the NYSE as a REIT focused on hyperscaler-leased, newly built facilities. (Read more)

Blackstone Takes Minority Stake in Rowan
Blackstone quietly grabbed a significant minority stake in Quinbrook-backed Rowan Digital, a hyperscale developer with 20+ sites and a flagship 300 MW Maryland campus — all while Quinbrook keeps the wheel. (Read more)

New Era Energy Closes $290M Macquarie Term Loan for Permian AI Campus
NUAI locked in a $290 million senior secured loan from Macquarie to fund its 438-acre Texas AI data center campus near Odessa, with Macquarie also buying in via $5 million in stock at a premium. (Read more)

Italian AV Spin-Off Niulinx Raises €38M ($44M) From Energy Giants
Politecnico di Milano spin-off Niulinx landed Europe's largest-ever AV pre-seed — €38 million from energy utility A2A, Italy's CDP AI Fund, national rail operator Ferrovie dello Stato, and Pirelli — to launch its full autonomous driving stack in Germany. (Read more)

Aura Aero Raises €50M ($58M), Builds Factories in France and Florida
French hybrid-electric aircraft startup Aura Aero closed a €50 million Series B backed by Safran, Bpifrance, EDF, and Florida's opportunity fund, bringing total funding to €340 million as it breaks ground on simultaneous production facilities in Toulouse and Daytona Beach. (Read more)

Astranova Mobility Raises $6.4M to Scale EV Fleet Leasing
India's Astranova Mobility, founded by an ex-Cars24 CEO, raised a $6.4 million Series A to expand its AI-powered EV asset management platform — already overseeing 20,000+ vehicles — with a target of 4x revenue growth in two years. (Read more)

project44 Buys LunaPath.ai to Automate AI Freight Execution
Supply chain giant project44 acquired AI startup LunaPath.ai to deploy 50+ logistics agents that automate check calls, claims, and freight confirmations across 1.5 billion annual shipments. (Read more)

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Rolls-Royce SMR Agrees to UK Deal for First SMR Fleet
Rolls-Royce SMR signed with publicly owned Great British Energy—Nuclear to deliver the UK's first three small modular reactors at Wylfa, backed by a £2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) government program and up to £599 million ($809 million) from the National Wealth Fund. (Read more)

Sora Fuel Raises $14.6M to Scale Air‑To‑Jet SAF
Boston's Sora Fuel raised $14.6 million to build a pilot plant for its carbon-negative air-to-jet fuel tech — pulling CO₂ straight from the atmosphere and targeting sustainable aviation fuel under $5 per gallon. (Read more)

ITM Power Secures £86M ($116M) to Scale UK Electrolyzers
UK electrolyzer maker ITM Power secured £86 million in equity and grants to expand its Sheffield green hydrogen factory by 1 GW and create around 400 new jobs. (Read more)

ThinkLabs AI Raises $28M to Speed Up Grid Planning
ThinkLabs AI closed a $28 million Series A to deploy physics-informed AI digital twins that compress grid-planning studies from weeks to minutes right as AI data centers strain electricity networks worldwide. (Read more)