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DartPoints Receives Investment from Astra Capital Management
Majority Investment Will Accelerate Buy and Build Strategy Across North America
- DartPoints is an owner and operator of edge colocation data centers, which offer secure and reliable infrastructure in close proximity to users, particularly beyond Tier I markets
- Accomplished telecommunications executive Scott Willis joins DartPoints as CEO to accelerate growth alongside the existing management team
- Communications and technology investor, Astra Capital Management, brings capital, expertise and global network
- Experienced investors and executives to join Board: Brian Kirschbaum, Kevin Beebe and Scott Bergs
Dallas, TX, May 5, 2020 – DartPoints Holding Company, LLC, an owner and operator of edge colocation data centers, has received a majority investment from Astra Capital Management, a private equity firm that invests in growth businesses in the communications and technology services sectors. Astra will invest significant capital to support DartPoints’s expansion across North America through a buy and build strategy. In addition, Scott Willis, a seasoned telecommunications executive, has joined DartPoints as President & CEO, effective immediately.
“On behalf of the DartPoints team, I am happy to welcome Astra and Scott Willis,” said Hugh Carspecken, DartPoints Founder and Chief Strategy Officer. “Astra’s expertise, capital and global network combined with Scott’s leadership and vision will fuel our growth and help us meet the increasing need for edge colocation data centers.”
“DartPoints is an innovator in the data center industry, which is undergoing significant evolutionary changes. Application performance, cost and resiliency are forcing customers toward a more distributed IT infrastructure,” said Brian Kirschbaum, a Partner at Astra. “Our investment will support DartPoints’s growth through the acquisition of existing data centers and the build out of edge colocation data centers.”
Traditional data centers were designed to provide cost-efficient access to space and power to store and process data. However, these facilities were optimized to serve the most populated cities. Edge colocation data centers are designed for local performance providing access to a large number of carriers and offering an ecosystem where content, cloud providers, commerce, and population centers can meet. This allows for storage and processing to occur closer to users, beyond the largest Tier I cities, enabling faster and more predictable real-time interactions. Gartner forecasts that by 2022, more than 50% of enterprise data will be created and processed outside the traditional data center or cloud, up from 10% in 2019.
Concurrent with Astra’s investment, Scott Willis has joined DartPoints as President & CEO and has been appointed to the board. Scott is a proven telecommunications leader, most recently serving as CEO of Zinwave, as well as holding various executive level roles across the communications industry, including wireless (Ericsson, Nokia), broadband (BellSouth, Sprint) and data centers (Keybridge, an early mover in the outsourced data center industry). Scott brings a wealth of telecommunications experience, leadership, strategic vision and operational expertise to drive DartPoints’s growth.
“I am thrilled to partner with Astra and join the DartPoints team,” said Willis. “The growth of locally consumed and generated content, the shift in use of cloud computing and the increase in application performance requirements have exposed inefficiencies in our network infrastructure. DartPoints is well positioned to support the growth in edge colocation data centers across North America as digital businesses seek to move closer to their users.”
Alongside Astra’s investment, several seasoned telecommunications investors and executives will join DartPoints’s board, including Brian Kirschbaum (Astra Partner); Kevin Beebe (Astra Co-Founder and Partner) and Scott Bergs (former CEO of Neutral Path Communications and COO of Midwest Wireless).
About DartPoints
Founded in 2012, DartPoints is a leading owner and operator of edge colocation data centers serving communities in North America beyond Tier I markets. DartPoints deploys and operates edge colocation data centers in all forms of real estate empowering the benefits of the edge and driving high-performance ecosystems for carriers, cloud, content providers, and enterprises.
About Astra Capital Management
Astra Capital Management is a Washington, DC-based, private equity firm that invests in growth businesses in the communications and technology services sectors. Astra targets highly scalable companies with proven business models that have positive free cash flow and significant growth potential. Post investment, Astra works closely with managers to drive value creation through strategic repositioning, revenue growth and operational enhancements. www.astracapitalmgmt.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements included herein may constitute “forward-looking statements”, which relate to future events, the future performance, or financial condition of DartPoints following the investment by Astra Capital Management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions, or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results and conditions may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors.