A new European hyperscale data center builder has been announced, with experienced hands in the boardroom.

Apto aims to build and operate data centers for cloud service providers expanding in Europe. It has been founded with financial backing from investment manager Pimco, and will manage Pimco's emerging data center assets.

Pimco is an American investment management firm which has a large European real estate platform, but has previously not shown much interest in data centers.

In August, it was reported to be interested in buying land for projects in Spain, and some reports also linked it to StratCap (formerly Strategic Capital) and its Datasphere fund.

Apto aims to deliver customized hyperscale facilities to meet customer needs, and promises it can build them to order in prime locations where the service providers need them. The launch release says it has a proven design blueprint to make sure its facilities clear regulatory hurdles and are delivered quickly with high quality.

Apto's CEO is Russell Poole who was previously a long-serving UK managing director at Equinix. Poole arrived when Equinix acquired IXEurope in 2007. He was around when Equinix expanded by snatching Digital Realty's acquisition target Telecity in 2016, and went on to lead the business in the UK during the pandemic.

Other leaders include chief financial officer David West, who was VP of finance at Digital Realty and Interxion, chief development officer Roger Gough who led EMEA construction at AWS, and chief revenue officer Chris Baxter who led global accounts at Equinix.

“Apto’s core mission is to enable swift and seamless entry into markets primed to shape future demand in Europe," said Poole. "Our experienced leadership team, combined with Pimco’s premier real estate expertise and access to significant capital sets us apart in delivering this capability. Apto is not just a company; it's a promise to partner with the world’s largest hyperscalers as they build out the next wave of Europe’s fast-growing digital economy.”