AQ Compute
European data centre company founded by Aquila Group in 2020 that offers modular, AI-ready data centres and colocation. Bain Capital acquired 80% in October 2024, and it later became part of hscale.
Industry: Data centres | Founded: 2020
About AQ Compute
AQ Compute is a European data centre company that provides modular, AI-ready data centre and colocation services powered primarily by clean energy. Aquila Group, a Hamburg-based private investment company, founded it in 2020, according to Aquila's October 2024 press release.
According to that release, AQ Compute launched its first data centre near Oslo in 2024, with further projects under way in Barcelona and Milan. Markus Holzer was named as its chairman.
On 30 October 2024 Bain Capital announced that it would acquire an 80 percent stake in AQ Compute from Aquila Group, with a targeted multi-billion euro investment volume for sustainable data centres serving hyperscale and AI customers across Europe. Aquila kept a 20 percent stake and said it would invest several hundred million euros alongside Bain Capital. Bain Capital partner Ali Haroon and managing director Rafael Coste Campos were quoted in the announcement, which cited Bain Capital's experience building Bridge Data Centres in Asia. The price was not disclosed.
In May 2025 Bain Capital launched hscale, a hyperscale data centre platform for the EMEA region, as the next phase of the AQ Compute investment. IT Brief UK and Data Centre Review reported that Aquila holds 20 percent of hscale, that Oliver Schiebel, formerly chief executive of Mainova WebHouse, is its chief executive and that Abed Jishi is chief technology officer. They reported more than 100 MW under construction and a pipeline above 1 GW, with locations including Milan, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Oslo, Barcelona and Zaragoza. Aquila Group's website states that AQ Compute became part of hscale in 2025.
TechScoop reported on 26 June 2026 that hscale has a pipeline above 1 GW across Norway, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Dubai, with about 70 MW under construction and a 2 billion euro campus planned in Milan. The article also says Dubai Holding is in early, preliminary talks to take a stake in hscale, with no guarantee of a deal.
Leadership
- Markus Holzer, Chairman, AQ Compute
- Oliver Schiebel, Chief Executive Officer, hscale
- Abed Jishi, Chief Technology Officer, hscale