Homegrown company Lux Central is taking its boldest move yet. It is building a network of data centers across Singapore, Johor and Batam to meet Southeast Asia’s burgeoning demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled infrastructure as enterprises increasingly turn to AI for high-power, complex workloads.
That expansion is already taking shape. In Johor, Racks Central has acquired three land parcels totaling 88,625 square meters where it is developing 510MW of capacity dedicated to AI workloads, which require significantly more power and advanced cooling than traditional computing. The company is building a 120MW facility in Batam with 12,280 square meters of usable space. Modular facilities in Batam, designed for large-scale, high-performance computing, allow clients to scale their operations more flexibly across the region.
“We are building a seamless infrastructure across all three markets, a regional AI corridor, and they complement each other,” said Bobby Wee, CEO and co-founder.
The strategy leverages the complementary strengths of Singapore, Johor Islands and Riau Islands. For example, Johor has plenty of land and space to build the large-scale facilities that AI computing requires. The cost of doing business is also low in Johor.
“Singapore is a Tier 1 market but has power and land constraints,” he added. “Johor has the scale and power. Batam has cost efficiencies, plus access to Java, giving us the critical mass we need to expand our business.”
Founded in 2014 by Mr. Wee, Racks Central began operating out of a one-floor data center on Tai Seng Drive in Singapore, serving enterprise customers with relatively modest computing needs.
Racks Central’s data centers are designed to support high-power, complex computing workloads driven by artificial intelligence.
Photo: Rack center
Today, the same location houses a six-story facility with 12MW of capacity, supporting a wide range of users, from e-commerce platforms and technology companies to cloud service providers, telecommunications operators, and IT services companies. This growth reflects not only the company’s success but also the rapid expansion of Southeast Asia’s digital economy over the past decade.
This change was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. As lockdowns spread across the region, businesses were forced to respond online. E-commerce has boomed, streaming has exploded, and video calls have become essential.
A cloud migration that was planned for years has been compressed into a few months. Demand for data center space skyrocketed and did not slow down even after the lockdown ended. It has become the new normal.
The numbers reflect this. The company’s revenue more than doubled from $14.9 million in fiscal 2021 to $32.8 million in fiscal 2024, driven by cloud adoption across the region, e-commerce growth and digital transformation.
This performance has earned Lux Central a place in the 2026 list of Singapore’s Fastest Growing Companies compiled by The Straits Times and global research firm Statista.
This momentum continued into the AI era. Enterprises are now deploying increasingly complex workloads that require dense computing clusters, sustained high power loads, and advanced cooling systems. These capabilities were not designed for traditional data centers to support.
Racks Central does this on two fronts. One is to upgrade our infrastructure to meet the demands of next-generation computing. Second, we want to expand our footprint beyond Singapore.
Lux Central’s expansion in the region is expected to drive employment, increasing the number of employees to approximately 70 by the end of 2026.
Photo: Rack center
The development of Johor and Batam represents a response to that structural change. By building new facilities from the ground up, rather than renovating old ones, the company is positioned to support the next wave of digital growth across Southeast Asia.
There are quite a few chances. According to
Survey by Asia Pacific Data Center Association
Commissioned by Amazon Web Services, data centers already contribute more than $2 billion annually to Singapore’s economy and support 25,000 jobs, with salaries for direct roles 35 per cent above the national average. By 2030, the sector is expected to create nearly three times as many jobs and contribute nearly nine times as much to the economy as in 2022.
But to capture that growth, we need to look outside Singapore’s borders, where land and power are cost pressures.
This expansion will also encourage employment. Racks Central expects to grow from about 50 employees in Singapore and Malaysia to about 70 by the end of 2026. The company is currently based in Singapore and has 40 employees responsible for engineering, operations, construction management and customer support.
Looking ahead, Wee sees the industry reaching a defining moment.
“Cloud, communications and graphics processing equipment infrastructures are converging. The next decade will define Asia’s digital infrastructure, and we want to help shape it.”
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