AirTrunk’s $23 billion sale buoys the South Asian Australian startup community

Data centre business AirTrunk is set to change hands after a $23 billion-plus deal was finalised between the Sydney-based business and US private equity group Blackstone and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. This is one of the largest acquisitions of an Australian company and the biggest acquisition deal of 2024 so far. 

Founded in 2015 by Robin Khuda, the entrepreneur’s journey is a reflection of the changing meaning of what it means to be an Australian founder, according to members of the community.

Khuda came to the land down under from Bangladesh when he was 18, to study accounting at the University of Technology Sydney, then went on to secure his MBA in finance from the Manchester Business School in the UK and further studies in the USA.

Those familiar with his journey say the AirTrunk founder worked in the corporate world before taking the plunge into startup land by dipping into his retirement savings. 

The now 45-year-old tech entrepreneur has come a long way since then. In 2020, Macquarie Group’s infrastructure acquired a majority stake (88%) in AirTrunk in a deal valuing the data center operator at around $3 billion. 

South Asian Australian founders laud “beacon of light”

Sandeep Varma is the founder and CEO of SAARI Collective, a media startup and community for South Asian Australians.

Varma said that Khuda is “part of a virtuous cycle of South Asian Australian founders who has lifted other people in the tech ecosystem and is known to give back to the community”. Khuda’s family set up the Khuda Family Foundation in 2020 with over $1 million earmarked to support women in STEM. 

The news of AirTrunk’s blockbuster sale will serve as a reminder for other immigrant founders of the “kind of payday potential to look up to”.

Varma compared Khuda’s journey to Canva co-founder Melanie Perkins who is of Filipino and Sri Lankan descent, and said the deal would help buoy and inspire other startups.

He was confident that Khuda’s investment into the community would bring more such deals for other founders to life.

“I have faith [this deal’s effect] will last for many, many years.

“It will give rise to new heroes, and change what it means to be an Australian founder … people who come from diverse backgrounds,” Varma said.

Varma said the “virtuous cycle” built by Khuda will have “multiple spin-offs, continue to push boundaries and is a leap forward” for the startup community. 

“It is inspiring and enlivening,” he said.

Sangeeta Mulchandani, founder of Jumpstart Studio, said, “Robin Khuda’s success with AirTrunk is not just inspiring but a powerful testament to the growing strength of Australia’s startup ecosystem and the pivotal role of South Asian founders in shaping it”.

“This $23.5 billion deal highlights that despite being perceived as behind the US, Australian founders are creating globally significant businesses,” Mulchandani said.

“Robin’s journey from Bangladesh to leading a global AI infrastructure giant underscores the extraordinary contributions immigrants are making to our economy.”

Rashid Khan, CEO and co-founder of Evacovation, an emergency management solution startup, said the news is “goal-setting for South Asian startups. Now we can see where the ceiling, the standard has been set for us to aspire to”. 

Khan, who won Startup Executive of the year in 2023 said: “If you are unique, working in the community with a brilliant idea and are consistent, then you can achieve a bigger goal [like Khuda’s] and bring that vision to reality”.

Echoing Khan’s comments, Priya Ravindra, the founder of Punar said, “this is a classic example of the much-needed diversity” in the startup ecosystem. 

“If people are allowed to use their superpower, and all [parts of] their identity and take up their space, you can see how much good it does for the world. [The acquisition of AirTrunk] is just a phenomenal example,” Ravindra said.

“Often these kinds of stories where South Asian founders are doing incredible work in other countries like the US and Europe… it’s relatively new in Australia.

“I am hoping this is pretty much shifting the landscape and making way for the next set of entrepreneurs… honoring [diverse] founders’ skills and the breakthroughs with the technologies and solutions they’re bringing.”

Ravindra also said, “with that diversity how beautiful and a better world we’re moving towards”.

Varma added South Asians are often pigeonholed into certain roles within the economy.

“Robin has built data centres… we’re not the people only on the other end of the phone. He’s the one running an entire global network,” Varma said.

“It shows we have the experience of building things from the ground, that’s really powerful, despite coming here with no networks, no connections.”

Varma said it shows the perseverance of South Asian founders. 

Khan added that the news also shows the amount of jobs created by migrant founders in the Australian economy. “For every one job we take when we come, we create eight, 20, 100 or more,” he said. 

Arjun Agarwal, founder of Inaam and a portfolio manager at KPMG High Growth Ventures, said “the fact that you’ve got a Blackstone-tired private equity fund looking at acquiring an Australian business that too founded by a South Asian founder is huge on multiple levels”.

“Blackstone has deployed billions in the Asian market particularly in India across this space, but seeing them make a foray into the Australian market with something like this is an indication of what’s to come for a lot of us,” Agarwal said.

Agarwal added that deals like these allow for more capital to come further down for early-stage innovation.

“It is a really exciting indicator and I hope it follows through with a few more deals in the space,” he said.

Despite the news that has electrified the South-Asian founders community, Varma says there’s a lot of work to be done but hopes Khuda’s journey will serve as a “beacon of a lighthouse that will light a path for others to follow”.

His exceptional journey will “illuminate possibilities that exist for other founders and allow them to be a little more brave, courageous and emboldened”.

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