Why Datum?

Over the last 25 years, our team built a dozen internet-scale cloud platforms from scratch, including the first Linux-based hosting company (Voxel) as well as bare metal and edge providers like Packet, SoftLayer, and StackPath.

Along the way, we scraped our fingers on cage nuts installing gear in data centers, borrowed IP space from friendly neighborhood ISPs, showed up in internet exchanges and meet-me rooms around the world, and figured out how to light our own dark fiber. It was fun, often hard, and almost always community-driven.

Because of this experience, we’ve “grown up” alongside the internet and know that underneath every hyperscale cloud is a laundry list of capabilities that most builders have never heard of: interconnection, private backbones, ASNs, global edge infrastructure, authoritative DNS, etc.

With a new landscape stimulated by AI, we see the potential for millions of new builders and thousands of new clouds to innovate at scale. So we asked: why can’t everyone have access to the same, powerful toolset that all the big guys use at scale?

That’s why Datum exists — to help 1k new clouds thrive in the age of AI by unlocking internet superpowers for every builder:

• A global edge to show up and meet the internet with style
• Your own private backbones to route traffic off the public internet
• Enterprise-grade DNS and domain management
• Full packet capture with OTel-compatible telemetry
• Powerful workflows to mitigate risk and shape network flows

Even with experts at the helm, it can take years to build out this kind of infrastructure. We want to help you do this in minutes, from Cursor, Claude or Kubernetes. Onwards!

To learn more about our strategy and how we operate, please visit our Public Handbook.