Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) chips are at the heart of Sustainable Metal Cloud's (SMC) ambitious expansion plans.

The Singapore-based data center upstart seeks to raise about $950 million to fuel growth driven by the global artificial intelligence boom.

The company, affiliated with Australia's Firmus Technologies, is finalizing an initial equity round of approximately $400 million and raising an additional $550 million in debt, Bloomberg reports.

The funds will help to expand the company's data centers beyond Singapore.

SMC aims to capitalize on the growing demand for data centers in Asia. The region is becoming a hotspot for tech conglomerates and AI startups seeking computing capacity.

Currently, SMC boasts over 1,200 of Nvidia's high-end H100 AI chips in Singapore and plans to increase this number to 5,000 by the end of the year.

According to Moody's Ratings, companies are projected to invest around $564 billion in the Asia-Pacific region's data centers by 2028, with capacity growing at a compound annual rate of nearly 20%, Bloomberg writes.

This quarter's Big Tech earnings results contributed to the selloff by failing to impress the Street.

The impending U.S. presidential election became crucial for the industry as President Joe Biden withdrew their candidature for the election race. At the same time, former President Donald Trump made unflattering remarks over key Nvidia supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (NYSE:TSM).

Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 (NASDAQ:QQQ), representing the broader semiconductor index, lost 4.3% in the last seven days. Nvidia lost 10.2%.

Price Action: NVDA shares traded higher by 0.46% at $114.82 at the last check on Thursday.