Melbourne, October 28, 2025- Australian technology firm Maincode has announced a AUD 30 million investment to build its first large-scale artificial intelligence data centre in Melbourne, positioning it as one of the country’s most advanced compute facilities for AI training and inference.
Named MC-2, the project will serve as an “AI factory” designed to host custom model development for enterprise and research clients across Australia. The company said the facility will be equipped with AMD Instinct MI355 GPUs and EPYC processors, reflecting a continued partnership with AMD to deliver high-performance, energy-efficient computing systems for local AI workloads. MC-2 is scheduled to open in January 2026.
“This investment marks an important step toward building sovereign AI capabilities in Australia,” said Dave Lemphers, co-founder and CEO of Maincode, in the company’s announcement. “MC-2 isn’t just an expansion of infrastructure, it’s a commitment to empowering local enterprises to build their own models onshore, securely and sustainably.”
Maincode’s focus on Australian-hosted compute aligns with growing demand for local AI training infrastructure as companies seek compliance with data-sovereignty rules and reduced reliance on overseas clouds.
The project is reportedly backed by Melbourne entrepreneur Ed Craven, who was also an early supporter of Maincode’s initial model-training ventures. The Australian Financial Review confirmed Craven’s involvement and reported that the Melbourne facility will target commercial clients needing domain-specific AI models in sectors such as education, logistics, and financial services.
The company said the facility will be hosted in a Telstra-operated data-centre site, though Telstra has not yet issued a public confirmation. Once operational, MC-2 will deliver compute capacity to Maincode’s in-house “Matilda” model and other Australian-trained AI systems.
By investing locally and using energy-efficient AMD hardware, Maincode aims to contribute to Australia’s digital sovereignty goals while building one of the most capable regional AI hubs in the southern hemisphere.
.jpg)