Private Assets that power the world

It’s been one of the fastest growing sectors¹  in the private markets, growing by $5B in 1999 to $1.3T in 2023. 

Now experts expect Private Market Infrastructure “to at least double over the next 5-10 years.” ² 

That’s not surprising given how private market infrastructure powers the critical innovation driving our future. 

Think about the advent of AI, the increasing demand for power generation, and the growing need to develop secure supply chains.

Here’s why these areas are expanding so quickly.

The Rapid Rise of the AI Ecosystem 

AI is already reshaping the world as we know it with the market projected to reach $1.8T annually by 2030. ³ 

It’s a revolution that wouldn’t be possible without the infrastructure needed to enable it.

Consider data centers, the powerhouse behind AI. The demand for hyperscale data center capacity is projected to surge dramatically over the next decade.

• Over $676B in data center investments were announced in January by major tech companies like Nvidia, Microsoft, AWS, and Meta. ⁴ 

• Blackstone and Digital Realty announced a $7B joint venture for AI-ready data centers.⁵ 

• Stargate from OpenAI and Softbank has committed $500B to AI infrastructure over the next four years. The first tranche is being used to build two data centers in Texas. ⁶ 

• The EU also recently announced a $209B devoted to AI development. This includes a fund specifically earmarked for the construction of AI gigacenters. ⁷ 

Getting ahead of this trend, BlackRock purchased a leader in global investments infrastructure fund management, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), in large part to capitalize on this market. ⁸  

A few months later, GIP joined forces with Microsoft and MGX to form the Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership (GAIIP), which aims to invest up to $100B in data centers and energy infrastructure to support AI development. ⁹ 

And it’s not just data center demand that’s growing. All the connected industries required to outfit these centers—fiber, telecommunications, even water for cooling—are preparing for this massive surge in demand.

(The first private equity offering available to all investors on Republic just opened through our partnership with Hamilton Lane.  The minimum investment is just $500. Go here to see all the details.)

Energy generation

Consider what’s required to power the use of AI.

One ChatGPT query uses 10x the energy of a standard Google search.¹⁰  

Thanks to the rapid increase in AI driven usage, BlackRock estimates data center demand will grow 22% per year through the end of the decade. ¹¹  Based on those projections, demand triples between 2024 and 2030.

Demand in the United States alone is projected to increase from 25 GW in 2024 to over 80 GW. ¹²  Meanwhile, Rand Corporation predicts global demand will reach 327 GW by 2030. ¹³ 

Gazing into the fast-approaching future, Apollo Chief Economist Torsten Sløk of Apollo frames it another way: “There is a need to add three New York Cities to the US power grid by 2030.”¹⁴ 

One company might have been listening: the design for Meta’s massive datacenter is larger than New York City’s Central Park.

(You now have the opportunity to invest in critical infrastructure like hyperscale data centers through Republic. Go here to learn more.)

Supply chain security

The smooth operation of critical infrastructure isn’t just a matter of day-to-day life, it’s now clearly a matter of national security.

Manufacturing plants, transportation networks, and communications systems are needed to keep the supply of materials and information flowing.

The global transportation and logistics industry is heavily investing in rail, ports, airports, facilities, and technologies that keep the necessary materials moving. 

There’s also undersea cables,¹⁵  the “unseen backbone” of the world’s communication systems, that carry over 95-99% of global data traffic through 750,000 miles of undersea cables that carry internet communications, financial transactions, military transmissions, and much more.¹⁶ 

These cables also facilitate high-bandwidth connections needed for large-scale data transfers, which is crucial for training and operating AI models.¹⁷ 

A whopping $10T of daily transactions flows through these cables.¹⁸ And not just commerce. Offshore energy and national secrets are transmitted via them as well. 

Fortifying the future

Legendary investor Warren Buffett often talks about how he likes to invest in companies with economic moats. This theory champions investing in companies with the kind of monopolistic market power that’s hard to replace.

Think about the high barriers to competitive entry for fixed assets like airports and ports. Or the data centers whose capacity is contracted out for 10-15 years before they are even built.

These types of assets have made infrastructure one of the fastest growing sectors for investment. Institutional investors doubled their allocation to the sector in the last 10 years attracted by their belief in predictable steady cash flows and the capital appreciation potential. ¹⁹  

Normally, private market opportunities like infrastructure are reserved for institutions and ultra high net worth investors, often with a minimum investment of $5M or more.

Now that’s changing.

Starting now, we’ll be giving Republic investors an opportunity to invest with Hamilton Lane, a leading global private markets investment management firm that sees deals from 150 general partners in infrastructure alone including companies like Brookfield, Blackstone, and Stone Peak.

This firm is extremely selective, investing in only 1.2% of available opportunities presented to their infrastructure committee.²⁰ 

Their investment thesis focuses on large fixed assets with consistent demand, monopolistic market power, which they believe can create predictable steady contracted cash flows.

In opening up this asset, Republic is changing the way private equity typically works to make it accessible to just about anyone.

This first of its kind offering is now live. See how you can be one of the first to invest, starting at just $500.

1. https://www.hamiltonlane.com/en-us/insight/real-assets-2024/infrastructure
2. https://www.hamiltonlane.com/en-us/insight/key-infrastructure-themes
3. https://www.logmein.com/resources/analyzing-the-ai-global-market
4. https://www.crn.com/news/data-center/2025/aws-meta-microsoft-nvidia-and-oracle-five-data-center-deals-worth-676b-announced-this-month
5. https://www.datacenterfrontier.com/cloud/article/55253151/8-trends-that-will-shape-the-data-center-industry-in-2025
6. https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/Stargate-AI-explained-Whats-in-the-project
7. https://accesspartnership.com/eu-to-mobilise-200-billion-for-ai/
8. https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/newsroom/press-releases/article/corporate-one/press-releases/blackrock-completes-acquisition-of-global-infrastructure-partners
9. https://news.microsoft.com/2024/09/17/blackrock-global-infrastructure-partners-microsoft-and-mgx-launch-new-ai-partnership-to-invest-in-data-centers-and-supporting-power-infrastructure/
10. https://limited.systems/articles/google-search-vs-chatgpt-emissions/
11. https://www.blackrock.com/ca/institutional/en/literature/whitepaper/2025-private-markets-outlook-stamped.pdf
12. https://www.ecmweb.com/design/article/55263687/shaping-the-future-of-data-centers
13. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3572-1.html
14. https://www.apolloacademy.com/need-to-add-three-nycs-to-the-us-power-grid-by-2030/
15. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/01/19/russia-baltic-undersea-cables-accidents-sabotage/
16. https://theconversation.com/undersea-cables-are-the-unseen-backbone-of-the-global-internet-226300
17. https://www.csis.org/analysis/invisible-and-vital-undersea-cables-and-transatlantic-security
18. https://open.spotify.com/episode/7xpVsQmQecrnzFyd5QJSSm?si=ec79aab8d18a4d0f&nd=1&dlsi=1c7d7808eab24d82
19. https://cdn.gihub.org/umbraco/media/5266/gih-infrastructure-monitor-2022-report-availability-of-private-capital-may-2023.pdf
20. Hamilton Lane Data