Volato Group, the former private aviation company in the process of rebranding as Soar AI, struck a stock purchase agreement with an institutional investor for an equity facility of up to $1B.
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The facility will support the growth of the artificial intelligence infrastructure and data center development company, which focuses on redeveloping industrial properties rather than ground-up construction.
Volato Group's Ohio AI infrastructure campus, with 154 megawatts available and a roadmap to 480 MW, is the first of these sites.
The equity facility should support expansion of the Ohio campus and the development of more AI infrastructure at potential brownfield sites in the U.S. and beyond. Soar AI will redevelop industrial sites and use existing electrical infrastructure where practical, the company stated.
A large AI customer last month agreed to purchase $1.2B of services from Soar AI, and the company said it is in discussions with more prospective customers for its available and planned capacity.
“The opportunity in front of us is measured in hundreds of megawatts across multiple sites,” Soar AI CEO Chris Ensey said in a statement. “This facility is sized to support that opportunity, and it gives us the flexibility to fund growth on our timeline as we bring contracted capacity online.”
Soar AI can sell shares to institutional investors at its discretion and has no obligation to sell shares or use the equity facility. The facility gives the company an on-demand source of equity capital for its development pipeline.
“The terms were structured to minimize market impact in the event we draw on the facility,” Soar AI Chief Financial Officer Mark Heinen said in a statement.
Volato Group launched as a private aviation operator in 2021, offering fractional ownership on the HondaJet, Private Jet Card Comparisons reported. It launched Vaunt, a platform that lets members book spots on private jets’ “empty-leg” flights.
Volato sold most of its aviation assets to FlyExclusive and began zeroing in on AI software and infrastructure this year. It acquired the 154 MW Ohio campus in August by merging with AI infrastructure company Alignment Engine in a $500M deal.
Ensey, who had been Alignment Engine's CEO since early 2023, was named Volato Group's CEO in September.
Volato Group announced this month that it would rebrand as Soar AI, a name that previously stood for Sovereign AI Resources. The name change is expected to become effective Oct. 19.
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