Empery Digital Inc., a Nasdaq-listed company operating a bitcoin treasury strategy, has made a USD 20 million preferred equity investment in Cardinal Data Power, Inc., a Hunt Properties-affiliated developer of powered data center campuses.

The deal, which was signed and closed on July 20, 2026, gives Empery Digital an approximately 8% ownership stake in Cardinal Data Power and marks a deepening of the company's push into AI infrastructure alongside its existing digital asset holdings.

A USD 70 Million Series A Round Anchored by Hood River Capital

The Empery Digital investment was part of a broader approximately USD 70 million Series A financing round for Cardinal Data Power, which was led by Hood River Capital Management and included a number of other strategic and financial backers.

The round is intended to support Cardinal Data Power's inaugural campus project in West Texas, where the company has entered into a letter of intent for a 750 megawatt Phase I data center campus.

Cardinal Data Power has secured reciprocating engine generation capacity and services from a leading original equipment manufacturer through an agreement with an independent power producer that the company describes as having decades of experience in the energy sector.

West Texas Campus Targeting Gigawatt Scale by 2029

The West Texas campus sits at the center of Cardinal Data Power's near-term development plans. The site has access to more than 3,500 acres, and Phase 1 of the campus is designed to deliver first power in 2027.

The project is then expected to ramp to approximately one gigawatt of gross capacity by 2029, with the potential to support expansion to more than five gigawatts over time.

Cardinal Data Power describes its approach as combining secured generation equipment, advantaged natural gas supply, proprietary pipeline capacity, electrical infrastructure, and large contiguous land positions to deliver large-scale power on accelerated timelines.

The West Texas campus is the first project in the company's development pipeline, with several other large-scale projects described as being in various stages of development.

Behind-the-Meter Focus and Founding Family Roots

Cardinal Data Power was founded by the Lyda Hunt Allred and Barbara Crow Hunt families and their respective family offices, Cavallo Holdings and Stratford Bridge Holdings.

The company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and its principals are described as bringing decades of energy and energy infrastructure development experience to the task of powering next-generation data campuses across West Texas and West Virginia.

The company's focus on behind-the-meter projects distinguishes its model from grid-dependent data center development, positioning it to serve AI and high-performance computing tenants that require reliable, large-scale power delivered on tight construction timelines.

Empery Digital Extends Hunt Properties Partnership

For Empery Digital, the Cardinal Data Power investment is presented as a direct extension of an existing strategic relationship with Hunt Properties.

Ryan Lane, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Empery Digital, said in a statement that Cardinal Data Power is uniquely positioned to address the energy demands of the AI infrastructure build-out, and described the investment as reflecting the continued strength of the company's partnership with Hunt Properties and the differentiated opportunities that relationship is generating for shareholders.

Hunt Allred, Chairman of Cardinal Data Power, welcomed Empery Digital as an investor and said the company looks forward to partnering with Empery Digital as Cardinal Data Power continues to scale.

Expanding Beyond Bitcoin Into AI Infrastructure

Empery Digital characterizes itself as focused on building long-term shareholder value through disciplined capital allocation. While the company's primary strategy centers on holding bitcoin as a treasury asset, it has been strategically expanding into AI infrastructure and data center investments.

The company describes its approach as partnering with operators that have experience in real estate and energy infrastructure development, with a stated aim of capturing growth at the intersection of digital assets and next-generation compute.

The Cardinal Data Power deal represents a concrete step in that stated expansion.

By taking a preferred equity position in a privately held, Hunt Properties-affiliated developer with a pipeline of gigawatt-scale campus projects, Empery Digital is positioning itself to participate in the infrastructure layer of AI compute demand without stepping away from its bitcoin treasury core.

Pipeline Ambitions Beyond West Texas

Although the West Texas campus is Cardinal Data Power's inaugural project, the company's ambitions extend further.

The Series A proceeds are directed at getting the West Texas development underway, but Cardinal Data Power has indicated that several other large-scale projects are at various stages of development, including activity in West Virginia.

The company's stated development model, combining proprietary pipeline capacity and secured generation equipment with large land positions, is intended to allow it to replicate the West Texas campus structure at multiple sites.

The letter of intent for the 750 megawatt Phase I in West Texas has not yet converted to a binding definitive lease, a point that Empery Digital acknowledged in the risk disclosures accompanying its announcement.

The company flagged that conversion of the letter of intent, completion of construction to the specifications described, and the timing of first power delivery are all subject to risks and uncertainties, as are the broader expansion plans for the campus and the wider Cardinal Data Power development pipeline.