Polarise
Category: AI Infrastructure
A provider of sovereign and sustainable AI infrastructure and 'AI Factories' designed to power industrial-grade artificial intelligence applications across Europe. Polarise was founded in 2024. The company is led by Michel Boutouil. Based in Munich, Germany. Team size: 28. Total funding raised: €117.0M. Latest round: Financing Facility. Key investors include Macquarie Group, Bitvisor Holding.
- Founded
- 2024
- Headquarters
- Munich, Germany
- Team size
- 28
- Total funding
- €117.0M
Value proposition
Delivers high-performance NVIDIA-powered AI infrastructure that ensures data remains within European jurisdictions while utilizing advanced liquid cooling to minimize environmental impact.
Products and solutions
AI Factories (Turnkey, large-scale AI infrastructure deployments), Industrial AI Cloud (Sovereign cloud services in partnership with Deutsche Telekom), GPU-as-a-Service (NVIDIA H100 and Blackwell-based compute), Sovereign Data Storage (Integrated DDN storage solutions for AI workloads), Sustainable Data Center Operations (Liquid-cooled HPC environments)
Unique value
Focuses on 'Sovereign AI' by combining localized European data residency with the latest NVIDIA hardware, bridging the gap between high-end US tech and strict EU regulatory requirements.
Target customer
European industrial enterprises, automotive manufacturers, healthcare providers, and public sector organizations requiring high-performance computing with strict data sovereignty.
Industries served
Manufacturing & Industrial AI, Automotive, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Finance, Public Sector / Government
Technology advantage
Strategic access to NVIDIA Blackwell and H100 GPUs as a key partner, backed by a massive €117 million financing facility from Macquarie Group to ensure rapid infrastructure scaling.
How they differentiate
Focuses on 'Sovereign AI' by ensuring data residency within European jurisdictions, combined with industrial-grade reliability through a Deutsche Telekom partnership and superior energy efficiency via advanced liquid-cooling technology.
Main competitors
Northern Data Group, Nebius, CoreWeave
Key partnerships
NVIDIA (Cloud Partner / Hardware provider), Deutsche Telekom (Co-launch of Industrial AI Cloud), Macquarie Group (Strategic financing partner), DDN (Data Intelligence and Storage partner)
Notable customers
Deutsche Telekom, NVIDIA (Partner), DDN (Partner)
Major milestones
Founded in Munich in 2024 by former Northern Data executives, Secured €117 million financing facility from Macquarie Group in January 2025, Launched 'Industrial AI Cloud' in Munich in partnership with Deutsche Telekom and NVIDIA in February 2025, Integrated DDN storage solutions into the Polarise AI ecosystem for high-performance data handling
Growth metrics
Rapidly scaled from founding in 2024 to securing a major €117M facility within one year; currently deploying NVIDIA Blackwell and H100 infrastructure.
Market positioning
Specialized European Sovereign AI Infrastructure provider targeting industrial and regulated sectors.
Geographic focus
Europe, with a primary concentration on the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland).
Patents and IP
No specific registered patents disclosed; innovation lies in proprietary 'AI Factory' blueprints and specialized liquid-cooling integration for high-density GPU clusters.
About Michel Boutouil
Michel Boutouil is the CEO of Polarise and a veteran in the high-performance computing (HPC) and cloud infrastructure sectors. He previously served as the Managing Director of the Cloud division at Northern Data AG, where he was instrumental in scaling their AI cloud business. With a background in the financial sector, he has founded and invested in multiple innovative HPC companies and is a pioneer in sustainable data center technologies, including large-scale liquid cooling solutions.
Official website: https://polarise.eu