An Indonesian AI compute platform that didn’t exist two months ago just locked down $3.1 billion in debt financing to buy NVIDIA GPUs. Zankore, a self-described “neocloud” venture, signed the senior term loan facility on September 9, making it one of the largest AI infrastructure financings ever assembled in Asia.
The deal is the first of its scale anywhere in the Asia-Pacific region. And it’s backed by a lending syndicate that reads like a who’s-who of global banking: Citigroup, ING, Natixis, Qatar National Bank, and United Overseas Bank, with Citigroup serving as the sole debt adviser.
From launch to billions in 34 days
Zankore launched on August 6 in Jakarta. Roughly five weeks later, it had a multi-billion-dollar credit facility in hand.
The speed makes more sense when you look at the backers. Ooredoo Group, the Qatari telecommunications conglomerate, holds a 49% stake in Zankore and has committed approximately $800 million to the venture. The remaining consortium includes Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, NVIDIA itself, and Nokia.
The loan proceeds will fund the purchase of cutting-edge NVIDIA GPUs, specifically to build out what Zankore calls “NVIDIA DSX AI Factory” capacity. The initial deployment targets 100 MW of AI infrastructure in Indonesia, with a first-phase goal of roughly 200 MW operational by the first half of 2027.
The longer-term ambition is significantly larger: 1 GW of AI compute capacity spread across Southeast Asia.
Why Indonesia, and why now
Zankore is designed to fill the gap in hyperscale AI infrastructure across Southeast Asia. The platform describes itself as built for “AI-native entities,” a category that encompasses everything from large language model developers to enterprises running inference workloads at scale.
The telecom angle is also crucial. Ooredoo and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison bring existing network infrastructure, land, power procurement relationships, and regulatory navigation experience.
The bigger picture for AI infrastructure financing
The structure of the deal, a senior term loan rather than equity dilution, is worth noting. It suggests the lenders view the revenue potential of leased GPU capacity as sufficiently predictable to underwrite against. NVIDIA’s direct involvement as a partner likely helped derisk the proposition in bankers’ eyes.
Nokia’s presence in the consortium hints at a network-plus-compute integration strategy that could differentiate Zankore from pure-play GPU cloud providers.
Whether Zankore can execute on its 1 GW ambition will depend on factors ranging from power grid capacity in target markets to the continued availability of NVIDIA’s most advanced chips under evolving US export controls. Indonesia is not currently subject to the same GPU export restrictions that affect China, but the regulatory landscape for advanced semiconductor sales remains fluid.