Starcloud Joins WEF’s 2025 Tech Pioneers with a Bold Plan to Build Data Centers in Orbit
Starcloud is developing orbital data centers that leverage 24/7 solar energy and passive cooling to support hyperscale AI training clusters in space.
With AI accelerating and global energy demands surging, Starcloud is taking infrastructure to the stars. Co-founded by CEO Philip Johnston and CTO Ezra Feilden, the company has been named a 2025 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, the company is developing space-based data centers that promise limitless solar power and free cooling from the vacuum of space.
“AI is growing rapidly—but so is the energy demand for its development, which could rise 50% a year until 2030,” the company shared on LinkedIn. “Build data centers out in orbit, where they’ll have unlimited access to the power of the sun and the cooling capacities of space.”
Space as Infrastructure, Not Just Exploration
Starcloud’s model tackles one of the most urgent sustainability challenges facing the tech industry: how to power and cool the massive data centers needed to train and run large-scale AI models. By relocating infrastructure to space, Starcloud aims to bypass terrestrial energy constraints entirely. The company believes these orbital data centers could be deployed at gigawatt scale, offering round-the-clock solar access and efficient heat dissipation via the vacuum of space.
This vision earned Starcloud a place in the Forum’s 2025 cohort of Technology Pioneers—a group that includes startups in quantum computing, sustainable agriculture, and cybersecurity. The cohort is celebrated for pushing boundaries in how technology can address global challenges.
A Global Spotlight on Sustainable Innovation
As a member of this elite group, Starcloud will contribute to World Economic Forum initiatives over the next two years, offering insight into how emerging technologies can power resilient economies and reduce environmental strain. The company joins the ranks of notable past pioneers like Google, PayPal, and Dropbox—startups that not only shaped their industries but changed the world.
For a planet facing exponential data growth and mounting energy pressure, Starcloud’s moonshot might just be the infrastructure breakthrough we didn’t know we needed.
Read more on World Economic Forum
Listen to Philip Johnston with Scott Hartley on the Venture Everywhere podcast: Data Centers in Space. Now on Apple & Spotify and check out all our past episodes here!
