Sharon AI Opens Singapore Office as Nasdaq-Listed Neocloud Pushes Deeper Into APAC

Singapore's pull as a regional base for AI infrastructure keeps strengthening. The latest sign comes from an unexpected corner of the market: a Nasdaq-listed Australian neocloud that rents access to Nvidia chips has quietly set up shop here, with staff on the ground and ambitions to serve the whole region from the city-state.

Sharon AI, the Sydney-based company trading on Nasdaq under the ticker SHAZ, confirmed it has opened offices in Singapore and New Zealand as part of a broader APAC push. Chief executive James Manning framed the move in an interview with Capital Brief as a deliberate pivot: "We've made it really clear we're an APAC story, not just an Australian story," he said, noting the company now has staff in Singapore and facilities coming online in New Zealand. The expansion comes alongside a US$1.6 billion strategic financing anchored by Situational Awareness and Oaktree, and a US$1.32 billion AI-cloud contract in New Zealand that pushes its disclosed contracted footprint toward 88% of its 132 MW portfolio.

The timing matters. Sharon AI reported second-quarter revenue quadrupled to US$1.9 million, and it is preparing for an Australian Securities Exchange listing — Manning said the company is waiting for a "pause in business activity" to time the IPO. Establishing a Singapore presence before that listing signals that the company sees Southeast Asia, not just Australia, as the growth engine for AI compute demand. It also adds another player to a crowded field of neoclouds and GPU providers targeting Singapore, which has positioned itself as the region's AI and data centre hub.

For Singapore, the office opening is consistent with a pattern that has accelerated through 2026: global AI infrastructure firms treating the city-state as their regional headquarters even when their core operations sit elsewhere. Data centre capacity, power availability and policy clarity are the currencies that decide these locations, and Singapore's recent moves — including new data centre capacity allocations and AI governance frameworks — keep it on the shortlist.

Why it matters for Singapore: Every neocloud that plants a flag here deepens the local AI ecosystem beyond the startups and research labs that usually make headlines. Sharon AI's presence means local enterprises get another route to GPU compute, and the city-state gains another reference point in its bid to be the compute gateway for Southeast Asia. With the company eyeing an ASX float and a growing regional footprint, Singapore's role as the APAC hub for AI infrastructure looks set to keep compounding.