Relera Sets Plans for 25 Data Centers

Will fund build-out with $300 million in VC support

By Rich Miller
CarrierHotels News Staff

August 7, 2000 -- Supported by more than $300 million in venture capital funding, Relera today announced plans to build and manage more than 25 Internet data centers in cities throughout the United States over the next 18 months.
Denver-based Relera, founded in January, is targeting 25 of the top 40 U. S. markets, offer clients Internet services and solutions including colocation, carrier-diverse connectivity, and managed services.
Relera's leadership includes chief executive officer Eric Hood, formerly VP of engineering and operations for Verio and a founder of Northwest Net, and president and chief operating officer Ron Cooper, who was previously COO of MediaOne, the broadband services company spun-out of US West in 1998.
Relera has already acquired leases on 13 of the 25 new data center sites, which will progress from design to construction later this summer. Site acquisition for the remaining 12 sites is underway.
The first centers in the Relera rollout will open during the first quarter 2001. The remaining centers will open by the end of the year 2001. In all, the Relera project entails approximately one million square feet of capacity.
"Relera is more than just bandwidth or technology,'' said Cooper. "Relera will have the largest breadth of data centers in the United States bringing our customers strategically closer to their clients.'
Target clients will include Web-centric businesses, Application Service Providers (ASPs), streaming media and other Internet content providers, and small/medium businesses seeking an outsourced solutions provider for their Web and IT needs.
The company raised $106 million in Series A funding in March from a group of investors including Telecom Partners, Navis Partners (formerly Fleet Equity Partners), and Columbia Capital Partners. In July Relera closed in July on an additional $200 million in Series B equity funding. Series B investors include Telecom Partners, Navis Partners, Columbia Capital Partners, Bank of America Capital Partners, Crescendo Ventures, CIBC, Broadband Venture Partners, and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.
``We are an enthusiastic investor in Relera," said Steve Schovee, managing member of Telecom Partners. "We're bullish on growth prospects for high-end co-location and Internet solutions providers and are especially enthusiastic about Relera's focus on opportunities in managed connectivity and value-added services. We think Eric Hood and Ron Cooper have assembled an exceptional team of technologists, managers, investors and partners.''