Polarise

What Polarise does

Polarise Holding GmbH is a German AI infrastructure company founded in 2024 and majority-owned since February 2026 by Euronext Amsterdam-listed SWI Stoneweg Icona Group. The company builds and operates high-density, sovereign AI data centers ("AI Factories") across Europe, with operational sites in Munich, Frankfurt, and Oslo and a planned site in Amberg-Unterallgäu, Bavaria. The core technology stack is built on NVIDIA hardware — from HGX B300 to DGX SuperPOD with GB200 — deployed using a proprietary modular "AI Pod" architecture and a brownfield methodology that compresses deployment timelines to approximately six months versus the two-to-three years typical of greenfield construction. Liquid cooling and waste heat recovery partnerships (with Statkraft Varme in Oslo and WV Energie AG in Amberg) address energy efficiency and ESG positioning.

On top of the physical layer, Polarise offers a multi-tier cloud platform: AI Studio "Drive" is an API-first GenAI environment providing access to more than 60 open-source models with token-based pricing; Virtual AI Cloud "Core" (launching Summer 2026) delivers managed Kubernetes, bare metal NVIDIA Blackwell servers, and MLOps tooling; Dedicated AI Private Cloud and colocation serve enterprises that require isolation and control. The company sells through direct enterprise sales (with Deutsche Telekom as the flagship Industrial AI Cloud customer in Munich), a self-service API channel for developers and startups (Build on Polarise program offering up to EUR 25,000 in staged credits), and a partner channel including vCluster Labs for mid-market distribution.

The unifying value proposition is European data sovereignty — full GDPR compliance, no CLOUD Act exposure, infrastructure and legal entities entirely governed by EU law — positioned against US hyperscalers. Certifications include ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 9001, ISO/IEC 14001, EN 50600, and BREEAM, with ISO 27002, ISO 42001, and SOC 2 Type II in preparation for 2026. Revenue is not publicly disclosed; the company has been funded by EUR 117 million in Macquarie asset finance (January 2026), a EUR 100 million equity injection from SWI Group at a EUR 0.5 billion post-money valuation (February 2026), and an additional EUR 1.0 billion commitment from SWI for expansion.

Name

Polarise

Legal name

Polarise Holding GmbH

Website

https://polarise.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Polarise is a German AI infrastructure operator majority-owned by SWI Group that builds and runs sovereign, NVIDIA-powered AI factories across Europe, selling GPU-as-a-Service, AI-as-a-Service, and dedicated private cloud to enterprises in regulated industries under full EU data sovereignty.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

AI Cloud Infrastructure

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Electronic Computer Manufacturing (334111), Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing (33411)

SIC

Electronic Computers (3571), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

AI Compute Cloud & GPU-as-a-Service (HDAAAAAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

AI Server Systems & HGX/Accelerator Platforms (HDAAAAAB), GPU-Accelerated & AI Training/Inference Servers (HDACABAG), AI Datacenter Power, Cooling & Racks (liquid cooling, power delivery) (HDAAAAAH), AI Integration & Orchestration Platforms (Connectors, Workflow, iPaaS for AI) (HDAEANAI)

Keywords

• Sovereign AI infrastructure
• GPU cloud services
• AI factory colocation
• NVIDIA Blackwell compute
• Generative AI platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Paderborn

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS): On-demand access to NVIDIA GPU instances (HGX B300, GB300 NVL72) delivered as bare metal or virtualized clusters. Customers pay per GPU per hour, scaling from prototype to production workloads.
2. AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS): Token-based consumption model for accessing AI models through Drive platform. Includes access to 60+ open-source models for LLM, vision, image generation, and embeddings. Pay-per-token pricing with transparent billing.
3. Colocation Services: AI-ready colocation for sovereign GPU infrastructure in German facilities. High-density, GPU-ready infrastructure with liquid cooling and predictable power. Customers deploy their own AI Factories within Polarise facilities.
4. Dedicated AI Private Cloud: Fully managed private cloud environments with NVIDIA GPUs, complete sovereignty and control. High-touch managed service for enterprise customers requiring dedicated infrastructure.
5. Bare Metal GPU Servers: Direct access to latest NVIDIA Blackwell architecture servers with full hardware control. Per GPU per hour pricing for customers requiring maximum performance and customization.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Polarise builds and operates sovereign, European AI infrastructure, combining high-density AI Factories (modular AI Pods up to 1 MW) with a cloud platform that delivers GPU-as-a-Service and AI-as-a-Service on the latest NVIDIA Blackwell hardware. Customers access compute through Drive (GenAI API platform with 60+ models), Core (managed GPU cloud), bare metal NVIDIA HGX B300 / GB300 servers, dedicated private clouds, and AI-ready colocation, all under EU jurisdiction and GDPR-native operations.

Product overview

Polarise is a European sovereign AI infrastructure platform offering a comprehensive portfolio of AI factories, cloud platforms, and hardware solutions. The core offering consists of AI Factories - modular, high-density data centers deployable in 30 days using AI Pods technology - located in Germany (Munich, Frankfurt), Norway (Oslo), and planned for Amberg. On top of physical infrastructure, Polarise provides two software layers: Drive (AI Studio) for API-first generative AI with 60+ models, and Core (Virtual AI Cloud) for managed GPU clusters with Kubernetes and MLOps tools. Customers can access compute via bare metal, dedicated private cloud, colocation, or pay-per-use cloud services. The platform integrates NVIDIA's full stack from HGX B300 to GB300 GPUs, DDN storage, and vCluster's Kubernetes multi-tenancy, all under European data sovereignty with GDPR compliance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• AI Factories High-density, scalable AI infrastructure facilities for production AI workloads. Modular AI Pods up to 1 MW capacity, deployable in 30 days, with latest NVIDIA GPUs, direct liquid cooling and waste heat reuse. Used by enterprises and AI factories across Europe.
• AI Studio (Drive) API-first GenAI platform providing access to 60+ open-source models for LLMs, vision, image generation and embeddings. Supports fine-tuning, batch processing, RAG tools and NVIDIA NIM acceleration, with pay-per-token pricing. Available at https://api.drive.polarise.com/v1 with OpenAI-compatible interface and SDKs for Python and Go.
• Virtual AI Cloud (Core) On-demand, dedicated GPU cluster cloud platform for AI training and inference workloads, featuring full managed Kubernetes, object storage, container registry, managed PostgreSQL with pgvector and MLflow. Pay per GPU per hour.
• Bare Metal GPU Dedicated bare metal servers with the latest NVIDIA Blackwell architecture (HGX B300, GB300). Full hardware access and control, pay per GPU per hour, for production workloads and large-scale AI projects.
• Dedicated AI Private Cloud Fully managed private cloud environment with NVIDIA GPUs, complete sovereignty and control over dedicated GPU clusters, networking and storage. Quote-based, annual contracts with priority support and dedicated account management.
• Colocation AI-ready colocation services for sovereign GPU infrastructure in German facilities. High-density, GPU-ready infrastructure with liquid cooling, predictable power and fast time-to-capacity, typically contracted on multi-year terms.
• GigaGrid Modular, distributed infrastructure platform designed for the AI era. Decentralised, networked AI infrastructure across Germany and Europe offering flexible and scalable compute, storage and networking with regional data sovereignty.
• AI Hub ONE Oslo AI Factory at Oslo Gardermoen Airport City featuring proprietary energy-efficient technology, renewable power, waste heat recovery with Statkraft Varme, and NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD with GB200 systems.
• AI Factory Munich (Tucherpark) AI Factory in Munich's Tucherpark serving as the infrastructure foundation for Deutsche Telekom's Industrial AI Cloud. Up to 10,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs delivering 0.5 exaFLOPS, completed in 6 months using the brownfield approach.
• Sovereign AI Factory Frankfurt First purpose-built AI Factory for the financial sector in Frankfurt. Provides secure, scalable AI environments meeting European regulatory and data sovereignty requirements, with planned expansion into mobility and healthcare.
• NVIDIA HGX B300 NVL16 Instances Sovereign high-performance NVIDIA HGX B300 GPU instances available as bare metal or GPUaaS, featuring 2.1 TB total GPU memory, 1.6 TB/s networking bandwidth and up to 2x attention performance for transformer workloads.
• NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 Instances Grace Blackwell Ultra Superchip-based systems with 72 Blackwell Ultra GPUs and 36 Grace CPUs, up to 40 TB fast memory and 130 TB/s NVLink bandwidth, with 288 GB HBM3e per GPU and ConnectX-8 SuperNIC at 800 Gb/s per GPU.
• NVIDIA GB200 NVL72 / DGX SuperPOD with GB200 DGX SuperPOD with GB200 systems featuring 72 GPUs and 36 Grace CPUs, delivering up to 30x faster LLM inference and 4x training speed compared to previous generation, with up to 25x more energy efficiency. Includes NVIDIA NIM and NeMo microservices.
• Build on Polarise Startup Program Startup acceleration program for EU-registered AI startups (Seed or later) with up to EUR 25,000 in staged GPU and AI Cloud credits, 7-day free access to start, priority support and hands-on engineering access.

Quantifiable outcome

• 30x faster LLM inference performance with NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD GB200 systems
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration14 records

AI capability11 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered major, core, flagship and minor.

• vCluster LabsmajorTechnology or Integration · 17 March 2026Strategic partnership to provide mid-market European enterprises with secure, sovereign AI compute infrastructure without vendor lock-in. vCluster's virtual cluster technology integrates into Polarise's sovereign cloud platform, enabling rapid provisioning of isolated Kubernetes environments on shared GPU infrastructure under European jurisdiction.
• WV Energie AGmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 March 2026Energy developer and site partner for Amberg AI data center project. WV Energie AG operates solar parks with 70 MWp capacity and battery storage at the former Wertachtal site, providing renewable energy supply for the AI factory. Will also construct additional 35 MWp photovoltaic and 21 MW wind farm.
• NVIDIAcoreTechnology or Integration · 4 February 2026NVIDIA partnership includes Preferred Partner status, Cloud Service Provider (CSP) designation, and access to latest GPU architectures including DGX SuperPOD with GB200 systems. Polarise was among first European providers to deploy NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD. Partnership enables delivery of GPU-as-a-Service and AI-as-a-Service on sovereign European infrastructure.
• Deutsche TelekomcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 November 2025Strategic partnership to build and operate the Industrial AI Cloud in Munich's Tucherpark. Polarise provides the AI data center infrastructure with approximately 10,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs delivering 0.5 exaFLOPS. Deutsche Telekom uses this as the foundation for its sovereign Industrial AI Cloud targeting German and European industry. The project was completed in 6 months.
• DDN (DataDirect Networks)majorTechnology or Integration · 15 July 2025Strategic partnership bringing DDN's enterprise-proven AI storage systems optimized for NVIDIA DGX and AI factory environments into Polarise's ecosystem. DDN's extreme throughput and efficiency for AI model training, inference, and RAG workloads complements Polarise's modular AI factory design.
• SAPflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 June 2025SAP is a key partner in the 'Deutschland Stack' ecosystem together with Siemens and ServiceNow, forming the software layer of the sovereign AI infrastructure. SAP contributes business and AI applications to the Industrial AI Cloud platform.
• SiemensflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 June 2025Siemens partners on industrial simulation and digital twins within the Deutschland Stack ecosystem. Part of the sovereign AI infrastructure initiative with Polarise, Deutsche Telekom, and NVIDIA.
• ServiceNowflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 June 2025ServiceNow is part of the Deutschland Stack ecosystem providing enterprise workflow automation and AI capabilities within the sovereign Industrial AI Cloud platform.
• Business Initiative FrankfurtRheinMainmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 June 2025Consortium of around 150 corporations and institutions in the Frankfurt region that initiated the Sovereign AI Factory Frankfurt project. Polarise joined as infrastructure developer in early 2025 to build and host the facility.
• AI Factory ManagementmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 June 2025Co-initiator of the Sovereign AI Factory Frankfurt project, working with Business Initiative FrankfurtRheinMain and Polarise to deliver the financial sector AI infrastructure.
• Statkraft VarmemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 March 2024Strategic partnership for waste heat recovery from AI Hub ONE facility in Oslo. Statkraft Varme utilizes excess heat from the data center for district heating network, supplying 100% renewable energy to Oslo Airport Gardermoen and surrounding businesses. Partnership enables sustainability and efficiency leadership.
• TD SynnexminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTD Synnex is a selected supporter of the Build on Polarise startup program, providing additional resources and go-to-market support for AI startups accessing Polarise infrastructure.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Broad incumbents

• Stack Infrastructure: Large-scale data-center developer with AI-ready hyperscale campuses in EMEA. Comparable to Polarise's AI factory buildout on the physical-infrastructure side, though Stack focuses on wholesale leasing rather than GPU cloud.
• OVHcloud: Largest European cloud provider, offering bare-metal servers, hosted private cloud and now GPU instances. Competes with Polarise on European sovereign positioning but at much broader scale and product depth.

Direct peers

• Nebius: AI infrastructure operator offering GPU clusters and an AI cloud platform with NVIDIA hardware. Direct competitor on the AI-cloud-as-a-service axis and a relevant benchmark for European-focused AI infra plays.
• Crusoe Energy: AI cloud operator pairing GPU clusters with stranded/renewable energy. Highly comparable to Polarise's sustainability story (Statkraft Varme, WV Energie solar) and NVIDIA-powered AI factory model.
• Northern Data Group: European-listed GPU cloud and data-center operator providing NVIDIA-powered compute and colocation. Closest publicly-traded European peer to Polarise's sovereign-AI factory model.
• CoreWeave: US-based GPU cloud provider offering NVIDIA HGX and DGX systems on usage-based pricing. Closest direct competitor to Polarise's GPUaaS and AIaaS product, though CoreWeave lacks Polarise's EU sovereign positioning.
• Scaleway: European cloud provider offering GPU instances (including NVIDIA H100/L4) under EU jurisdiction. Overlaps with Polarise on EU-sovereign GPU cloud and API-first consumption model.
• Lambda Labs: GPU cloud and on-prem AI clusters built on NVIDIA hardware (including DGX SuperPOD deployments). Comparable to Polarise's Bare Metal and Virtual AI Cloud offerings for AI training and inference workloads.

Emerging players

• Ori Industries: Distributed AI cloud platform focused on edge and sovereign compute across multiple European regions. Conceptually aligned with Polarise's GigaGrid distributed-infrastructure thesis, though smaller and earlier-stage.

Regional players

• Hetzner: German hosting and dedicated-server provider expanding into GPU cloud. Comparable to Polarise's Bare Metal and Colocation services, particularly for price-sensitive European developers and startups.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/polarise-ai

Compliance9 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Polarise