A new data center startup focused on metro projects has emerged from stealth.

Metrobloks this week announced an oversubscribed $5.2 million seed round led by Current Equity Partners with the backing of Serena Capital.

The company is aiming to deliver high-performance data centers in urban metro markets. The company said it designs, deploys, and operates modular and scalable data centers in underserved urban markets to provide low-latency, high-capacity data solutions for AI/ML, IoT, gaming, streaming, and other data-intensive services.

Further details about the company’s data center design, beyond the fact with will be multi-tenant, have not been shared. The company hasn’t provided firm details about any planned project locations yet.

“Over the past year, we have seen AI capabilities firmly placed in the hands of consumers. Recent news and product announcements have underscored that AI will be everywhere, integrated directly into Edge and endpoint devices,” said Ernest Popescu, CEO of Metrobloks.

“Metrobloks’ goal is to extend data center capacity to these devices, especially in underserved metro markets. By providing 'AI at the Edge,' we enable real-time processing and decision-making without reliance on cloud servers. This decentralization of AI processing offers low-latency capabilities and improved reliability to enterprise customers and traditional hyperscalers, whose services are often located in congested and over-developed campuses far away from end users.”

Popescu was previously a VP of data center development at Iron Mountain, and also held roles at Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon. Company COO Scott Couzens was also at Amazon Web Services.

According to the company’s website, Metrobloks is targeting 5-20-acre land acquisitions in close proximity to electrical substations or high-voltage transmission lines which are able to offer 20MW+ of power.

Regions the company is “focused on” include New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, and Phoenix in the US; Vancouver and Toronto in Canada; and Queretaro in Mexico.

“We are thrilled to partner with Ernest and the broader Metrobloks team as they address a growing crucial need in the data center market,” said PJ Fielding, managing partner at Current Equity Partners. “Their deep experience and innovative approach make them well-positioned to transform how data centers operate in metropolitan areas.”

Bertrand Diard, partner at Serena Capital, added: “We believe the Data Center space is ripe for significant innovation. By adding a technology layer Metrobloks will be able to make a larger impact on this industry”.