Denver Company Invests $200 Million for Data Center Factory

A Denver tech company is planting a major manufacturing flag outside the city as it beefs up its delivery of prefabricated infrastructure designed for the artificial intelligence economy.

Denver-based Crusoe plans to open a 352,000-square-foot factory in Brighton that will manufacture modular data centers for some of the country’s biggest tech companies, the Denver Business Journal reported. The facility at 22600 East I-76 Frontage Road represents a $200 million investment and is expected to create more than 200 jobs.

At the plant, Crusoe will produce transportable “Spark” units, or prefabricated data centers, that can be delivered and deployed in a fraction of the time that traditional construction typically requires. The first modules from the factory are expected to roll out in the third quarter of this year.

The units range in size from small systems using kilowatts of energy to installations that can support more than 100 megawatts. The portable data centers can be delivered roughly three months after a company places an order, according to the Business Journal.

Speed of product delivery is “the primary driver” behind Crusoe’s new Spark factory, company co-founder Cully Cavness said, noting that manufacturing modular data center units in-house allows it to “rapidly scale” its Crusoe Cloud and Managed Inference products.

Crusoe wasn’t always a data center company. The firm, founded in 2018, initially made its name powering cryptocurrency mining operations using natural gas that would otherwise come from oil fields. Last year, it shifted its focus by selling its crypto business to focus on AI infrastructure and cloud computing.

Crusoe has been moving toward vertically integrated production for several years. In 2022, the company acquired Arvada-based modular data center builder Easter-Owens, bringing fabrication and electrical systems manufacturing under its umbrella. Last year, it partnered with Kansas-based natural gas pipeline giant Tallgrass to develop a data center campus in southeast Wyoming designed for 1.8 gigawatts of power capacity with potential to scale as high as 10 gigawatts.

Crusoe now employs about 500 people across Colorado, Louisiana and Oklahoma. It will keep its Arvada operations in place to complement the Brighton factory’s production.

— Chris Malone Méndez