Armada founders Dan Wright (L) and John Runyan (R)
The Armada
Armada, which builds custom data centers that are increasingly popular with customers in the defense, energy and military sectors, has raised $230 million from investors in a Series B fundraising announced Tuesday.
San Francisco-based Armada, named to the 2026 CNBC Disruptor 50 list on Tuesday, valued the deal at $2 billion.
The investment cycle coincides with the production agreement Johnson Controlswhich invested in Armada, to produce modular data centers in a new Arizona 400,000-square foot facility called Galleon Forge One.
The factory, expected to create more than 500 jobs, will begin manufacturing Armada’s Leviathan, a megawatt-scale data center, starting this summer. Unlike large data centers built by hyperscalers, Armada data centers can attach to existing energy sources, such as solar power and gas flares produced by oil wells, and can be deployed over days rather than years. Conventional data centers enable AI processing to occur on-site rather than requiring data to be transmitted.
“The AI race will not be won by one-off projects,” said Dan Wright, founder and CEO of Armada in a statement about the deal. “It will be won by the companies and countries that can build, deploy, and develop AI infrastructure consistently, with speed, scale and dominance.”
Wright framed the company’s mission as tied to America’s global AI race with China, which he says is “the defining race of our time.”
Johnson Controls has 40,000 field workers in all key regions enabling Armada to manufacture and deploy AI infrastructure. “Johnson Controls is partnering with Armada to rapidly deliver state-of-the-art data centers,” said Joakim Weidemanis, CEO of Johnson Controls, in a statement. “Johnson Controls’ differentiated technology, US-based manufacturing capabilities and Armada’s edge computing experience will deliver critical thermal solutions that work predictably, act quickly, and measure with confidence,” he added.
Companies are already using units across the United States and around the world.
Armada sells its general data centers to the US military and within industries such as mining, telecommunications, and oil and gas, all of which operate in what Armada calls “rugged environments”.
The US Navy used Armada in its UNITAS Naval mission with partners in the Americas, with Rear Admiral Carlos Sardiello noting that common data centers and edge computing help the Navy to operate at sea. Armada is also partnering with the US Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission, connecting national labs, supercomputers, and data sets to the AI research center.
Globally, Armada has projects in Australia with WinDC to distribute mobile AI industries, and in the Norwegian oil and gas industry with Aker BP.
Armada said customer bookings grew by 540% from fiscal 2025 to fiscal 2026, while Q1 FY27 alone saw a 2,000% year-on-year increase.
The company said the round was oversubscribed and co-led by Overmatch, 8090 Industries, and BlackRockwhich is a new investor. Johnson Controls, NightDragon, Mitsui, and Singtel Innov8 also joined the round as new strategic investors. Existing investors including Felicis, Marlinspike, Shield Capital, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, Veriten and Gladebrook also participated in the deal.
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