Switch
“Can a data center operator sustain a premium Tier 5 infrastructure brand in an era of hyperscaler dominance?”
Founded2000
HQLas Vegas, Nevada, USA
FoundersRob Roy
Total raised$531M+ (IPO proceeds)
Latest roundIPO, October 2017
IndustryInfrastructure / Data Centers
The story
Switch was founded in 2000 by Rob Roy as a data center operator in Las Vegas, leveraging a unique Tier 5 Platinum facility standard. The company built a colocation, telecommunications, and cloud services business, going public in 2017. Post-IPO, it was taken private by DigitalBridge and IFM Investors. Its embedded finance footprint is minimal — Thread Bank lists it as a customer, suggesting basic banking infrastructure use, but the company's core business remains physical data center infrastructure.
Last 12 months
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Product timeline
2000
Switch, Inc. founded by Rob Roy in Las Vegas, Nevada to develop and operate SUPERNAP data center facilities.· pivot
2002
Rob Roy acquired a former Enron facility in Nevada for $930,000, forming the foundation of Switch's data center campus.· acquisition
2017
Switch went public on the NYSE under ticker SWCH, raising $531M in its IPO, closing its first day up ~22%.· ipo
The stack
1 layer disclosed in Switch’s embedded-finance stack
Banking / BaaS
Accounting gap: none