The Infinite Unknown

Summary

Novva Data Centers is a West Jordan, Utah wholesale colocation operator and datacenter developer founded in 2019 by CEO Wes Swenson and CIM Group. Swenson previously founded C7 Data Centers, a Utah-based colocation operator acquired by DataBank in 2017. Novva’s flagship project is a 100-acre, 1 million square foot campus in West Jordan that will deliver 175 MW of critical IT capacity across three phases — positioning it as one of the largest direct-to-chip cooled AI datacenters in the world when complete. In March 2025, Novva closed $2B in financing from J.P. Morgan and Starwood Property Trust to complete Phases 2 and 3. Novva operates across six Western US markets (Salt Lake City, Colorado Springs, Las Vegas, Tahoe Reno, San Francisco, Mesa AZ) and differentiates on waterless cooling, low power costs from Western US geography, and an autonomous security posture using robot dogs and drones — an unusual operational deployment of robotics automation in a live production facility.

Key Facts

• Founded: 2019
• HQ: West Jordan, UT
• Type: Private
• CEO / Founder: Wes Swenson (also founded C7 Data Centers, sold to DataBank 2017)
• Co-founder: CIM Group (institutional real estate and infrastructure investor)
• Total financing committed: ~$2.35B+ (CIM $355M growth equity + $2B J.P. Morgan / Starwood)
• Key investors: CIM Group, J.P. Morgan Chase, Starwood Property Trust
• Flagship campus: West Jordan, UT — 100 acres, 1M sqft, 175 MW total critical IT load (3 phases)
  • Phase 1: Live (first building)
  • Phase 2: 318,000 sqft, 72 MW; construction started December 2023; expected complete 2026
  • Phase 3: 318,000 sqft, 72 MW; construction started January 2024; expected complete 2026
• Cooling: Waterless cooling system; direct-to-chip liquid cooling for AI workloads
• Power: Redundant feeds; low-cost power leveraging Western US regional geography; renewable energy and solar offsets
• Certifications: SOC 2, ISO 27001
• SLA: 99.99% availability commitment
• Capacity range: 250 kW to 30 MW per customer (wholesale colocation)
• Western US markets: Salt Lake City, Colorado Springs, Las Vegas, Tahoe Reno, San Francisco, Mesa AZ
• Security automation: Autonomous drone surveillance and robot dog facility monitoring — a live production deployment of robotics, not a pilot
• Target customers: Enterprise, SMB, government, healthcare, financial institutions, technology companies

What It Is / How It Works

Novva is a wholesale colocation operator — it builds, owns, and operates datacenter facilities and leases capacity to customers on a wholesale basis, rather than building for a single anchor tenant (Applied Digital/Crusoe model) or operating a cloud platform. Customers range from 250 kW (a single cage or cabinet suite) to 30 MW (a large private wholesale building), giving Novva both mid-market enterprise and hyperscale-adjacent customers.

Western US geographic strategy: Novva’s site selection is concentrated in Western US markets with access to low-cost power, cool ambient air for free cooling, and renewable energy resources. Salt Lake City specifically benefits from cold winters (free cooling hours are high), access to Utah Power’s renewable mix, and lower land and construction costs than coastal markets. This is the same logic as Applied Digital’s North Dakota and Crusoe’s West Texas strategies — avoid high-cost coastal power grids.

Waterless direct-to-chip cooling: The West Jordan flagship is described as one of the largest direct-to-chip cooled AI datacenters in the world. Direct-to-chip cooling routes chilled liquid directly to cold plates mounted on GPU and CPU heat spreaders — more efficient than air cooling for high-density AI workloads (>20–30 kW/rack) and avoids the operational complexity of full immersion. “Waterless” (similar to Applied Digital’s terminology) likely refers to a closed-loop system without cooling tower evaporation, using dry coolers for heat rejection — well-suited to Utah’s low humidity and cool ambient temperatures much of the year.

Autonomous robot security: Novva’s live deployment of autonomous drones and robot dogs for facility security and monitoring is operationally notable — this is not a pilot program but a described feature of the production facility. Robot dog patrol (likely Boston Dynamics Spot or similar) and drone surveillance are used for 24/7 perimeter and facility monitoring, supplementing human security staff. This makes Novva one of the few named examples of robotics automation deployed in a live production datacenter environment today — worth tracking as a reference case for the robotics-automation section.

Biometric access: Facial recognition, palm recognition, and biometric gate authorization at access points — a dense biometric security posture consistent with ISO 27001 and government/financial customer requirements.

Notable Developments

• 2025-03: $2B financing commitment from J.P. Morgan and Starwood Property Trust to complete Salt Lake City campus Phases 2 and 3. (CIM Group)
• 2024-01: Phase 3 construction begins (318,000 sqft, 72 MW); completion expected 2026.
• 2023-12: Phase 2 construction begins (318,000 sqft, 72 MW); completion expected 2026.
• 2022: $355M growth equity investment from CIM Group. (PR Newswire)
• 2019: Founded by Wes Swenson and CIM Group; initial $100M backing.
• 2019 (prior): Wes Swenson’s previous company C7 Data Centers acquired by DataBank in 2017; Novva represents his second Utah datacenter company.

Key People

Wes Swenson — Founder and CEO

• LinkedIn: Search “Wes Swenson Novva”
• Role: Co-founder and CEO
• Background: Serial datacenter entrepreneur in the Utah market; founded C7 Data Centers (Utah colocation), grew it and sold to DataBank in 2017; founded Novva in 2019 applying the same regional strategy at larger scale with CIM Group’s institutional capital
• Notes: Swenson’s C7→DataBank track record gives Novva operational credibility that pure finance-backed startups lack; he has built and sold a datacenter business in this exact geography before

People — Last Reviewed: 2026-03-25

Supply Chain Position

Novva sits at the Wholesale Colocation Operator layer — downstream of construction, cooling equipment, and power suppliers; upstream of its enterprise and hyperscale tenant customers.

⚑ Robot dog security deployment — vendor flag: Novva operates robot dog patrol as a production security feature. If Boston Dynamics Spot is the platform, note that Hyundai acquired Boston Dynamics in 2021 — no Chinese ownership concern. If the platform is a lower-cost Chinese alternative (Unitree, Deep Robotics), this warrants the same scrutiny applied to DJI drones in the aerial drone section. Vendor should be confirmed.

⚑ CIM Group concentration: CIM Group is both an equity investor and, through its real estate and infrastructure mandate, likely a debt/financing facilitator. The $2B J.P. Morgan / Starwood facility is separate from CIM’s equity position, but CIM’s continued involvement as investor, co-founder, and likely board presence represents governance concentration. If CIM’s institutional mandates or capital allocation change, it could affect Novva’s expansion trajectory.

Claim Verification

Claim: “One of the largest direct-to-chip cooled AI datacenters in the world” (175 MW, West Jordan)

Status: Plausible at completion; not independently ranked; comparisons depend on how “direct-to-chip” and “completed” are defined

Supporting:

• 175 MW of direct-to-chip cooled capacity is genuinely large — most hyperscale AI compute campuses are in the 100–300 MW range per campus; 175 MW in a single Western US colocation campus is notable
• Phases 2 and 3 are under construction with $2B committed financing, making completion likely

Refuting / questioning:

• “At completion” — Phases 2 and 3 are expected complete in 2026; the claim reflects full buildout, not current operational capacity
• Major hyperscaler owned-and-operated AI campuses (Meta, Google, Microsoft) may exceed 175 MW at single sites and use direct-to-chip cooling; the “largest” claim in a colocation context is more plausible than globally

Summary: The claim is credible for the wholesale colocation segment in the Western US at completion. Treat as aspirational until Phases 2 and 3 are commissioned and independently measured.

Claim: “Waterless cooling”

Status: Consistent with closed-loop dry-cooled direct-to-chip systems; specific WUE not published

Supporting: Same logic as Applied Digital and Crusoe — Utah’s low humidity and cold winters favor dry-cooler heat rejection with minimal or zero evaporative loss

Refuting / questioning: “Waterless” is marketing shorthand; closed-loop systems require initial fill and top-up; the term likely means zero consumptive water use (no evaporative cooling towers), not zero water in the system

Summary: Directionally accurate for the architecture; specific WUE figures needed for independent verification.

Sources

• NOVVA Data Centers — novva.com
• $2B Financing Announcement — CIM Group (Mar 2025)
• $355M CIM Group Growth Equity — PR Newswire (2022)
• Novva Launches Utah’s Largest Multi-Tenant Data Center — Novva Media Center
• About Novva — novva.com/about