Edge Startup EdgeMicro Launches 5 New Micro Data Centers

“By offering infrastructure closer to the end user, we lower latency and positively impact the bandwidth challenges that have been created by increasingly important work-from-home demands related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said EdgeMicro CEO Mike Hagan.

Edge colocation startup EdgeMicro is launching five new micro data centers across the U.S. as spending from cloud providers like AWS, Google and Microsoft skyrockets and private equity firms inject billions into the edge.

EdgeMicro, which made CRN’s 10 Hottest Edge Computing Startups Of 2020 and CRN Emerging Vendors 2020 lists, will build five new micro data centers (MDCs) in Cleveland, Indianapolis, Memphis, Houston and Pittsburgh. The construction of the facilities is already underway with all the sites slated to be opened in the fourth quarter of 2020.

“Success of our initial locations has accelerated our deployment to the edge,” said Mike Hagan, CEO and founder of EdgeMicro, in a statement. “Our portfolio of eight strategically positioned MDCs offer businesses the chance to connect to users and fully demonstrates our ability to scale in a rapidly growing edge market.”

[Related: Gartner’s Data Center Backup And Recovery Magic Quadrant Leaders]

The coronavirus pandemic has led some companies to face bandwidth and latency issues stemming from more employees working from home.

“By offering infrastructure closer to the end user, we lower latency and positively impact the bandwidth challenges that have been created by increasingly important work-from-home demands related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Hagan.

Founded in 2017, the Denver-based edge data center specialist has data centers in U.S. cities including Austin, Texas; Raleigh, N.C.; and Tampa, Fla.

EdgeMicro specializes in providing edge colocation data centers tied with its proprietary Edge Traffic Exchange technology that facilitates local IP access between cellular radios, cached data and compute services directly at the tower. The startup’s turnkey edge data centers can be located at any fiber point such as in parking lots and roof-tops.

“Nationally renowned internet companies and content providers” are anchor tenants in its already existing data centers with plans to expand their footprint to the new locations, the company said..

The data center colocation market reached $9.5 billion in the first quarter of 2020, up 7 percent year over year, as hyperscalers like AWS, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft spend billions to expand their global networks. Total hyperscale capex spending on data centers reached a record high of over $120 billion in 2019, peaking with a record-breaking fourth quarter of over $32 billion.

Hyperscale operators are rapidly expanding their data center footprint by putting edge facilities ever closer to major business centers, with few signs COVID-19 is slowing this trend.

EdgeMicro is deploying hundreds of network-neutral, modular data centers that deliver the scale and flexibility required at the edge. The company also provides services around site location, system engineering and design, installation, commissioning, maintenance and monitoring.