Evroc, a Swedish startup, has raised €50.6 million ($55 million) in Series A funding to build a hyperscale cloud company in Europe, focusing on security, sovereignty, and sustainability. The company aims to capitalize on the growing momentum towards creating a European tech stack, independent of US tech firms and their shifting political landscape.

The funding comes at a time when there are increasing calls for European digital independence. Just this week, a coalition of European tech industry leaders urged lawmakers to take "radical action" to reduce the region's reliance on foreign-owned digital infrastructure, pushing for homegrown alternatives to apps, AI models, chips, and cloud services.

Evroc plans to build data centers and a range of cloud services, with a focus on AI workloads. The company has already established two co-location facilities in Stockholm and two in Paris, with two additional facilities expected to be operational in Frankfurt by the end of the second quarter of this year. Work is also underway on its first flagship data centers in Sweden and France, scheduled for completion in 2026.

According to Evroc CEO and founder Mattias Åström, the data centers are designed for the high energy density required for AI, with racks capable of consuming 20 times what a traditional server rack can. Both facilities will be equipped with liquid cooling and will host compute and storage servers.

Evroc's formal launch is slated for later this year, with Åström adding that the company is already working with early beta customers in industries requiring a high need for sovereignty, including defense, public sector, healthcare, and financial services. He also hinted at additional data centers coming next year, although the company isn't ready to confirm specifics.

The push for digital sovereignty in Europe is not new, with many US tech giants already investing in local infrastructure to ensure compliance with EU data residency regulations. However, with geopolitical tensions on the rise, Åström argues that control over Europe's infrastructure matters more than just server locations.

He cited examples such as Donald Trump's executive order authorizing economic sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands, which affects how tech companies can serve organizations. Additionally, Elon Musk's admission to throttling Ukrainian access to Starlink satellites and his subsequent claim that Ukraine's entire frontline would collapse if he chose to turn it off, highlight the importance of infrastructure independence.

Evroc's goal is to build an extensive, developer-friendly hyperscale cloud that's more akin to AWS and its ilk. The company has a team of over 60 employees, mostly focused on software development, spread across Sweden, France, and the UK. Åström noted that the London hub wasn't originally planned but became necessary to attract top talent from major tech firms.

The €50.6 million funding round was led by US-European venture firm Blisce, EQT Ventures, Norrsken VC, and Giant Ventures. When asked about Evroc's plans to raise billions, Åström confirmed that the company still plans to do so, but emphasized the importance of first building the software stack. He added that Evroc plans to raise significantly more capital later in 2025, following a funding model similar to other cloud infrastructure players.

With the hyperscale cloud market expected to continue growing, Evroc's ambitious plans to build a sovereign hyperscale cloud in Europe could have significant implications for the region's digital future. As Åström put it, "I simply want Europe to control its own destiny. And while we're at it, try to build something that is better."