David Smith, Deputy CEO of Echelon Data Centres, joins Blueprints & Breakthroughs to discuss the data centre investment thesis and unpack how Echelon is building powered hyperscaler campuses across Ireland, the UK, Italy, and Spain. Drawing on nearly a decade at Starwood Capital before joining Echelon, David explains how Echelon grew from an Irish office developer into one of Europe’s leading digital infrastructure players, and why integrating energy assets has become central to both growth and regulation. The conversation spans demand from hyperscalers, Ireland’s grid constraints, sovereign AI and data in Europe, and Echelon’s new joint venture with Iberdrola in Spain.

David Smith is Deputy CEO of Echelon Data Centres, a leading owner and operator of large-scale data centre infrastructure headquartered in Ireland. Before joining Echelon, initially as Chief Investment Officer, he spent nearly a decade at Starwood Capital Group, where he helped build and lead the firm’s European data centre investment strategy after earlier roles in Citi’s credit risk and commercial real estate financing teams in Dublin and London.

Join us for an insightful conversation with Raj Singh, Managing Partner at JLL Spark, the corporate venture capital arm of JLL. With over 20 years of experience in venture capital, technology, and strategic leadership, Raj shares his career journey and his mission to drive innovation in the real estate industry through PropTech investments.

We explore why real estate has lagged in tech adoption and whether this creates unique opportunities or challenges for startups. Raj delves into how JLL Spark is carving its niche in the VC ecosystem by leveraging its integration with the broader JLL platform to support deal sourcing and portfolio companies.

Raj shares his insights on the most exciting PropTech trends over the next decade, including the global evolution of technology investment across markets like MENA and APAC.

Tune in to hear Raj Singh’s expert insights on the future of technology in real estate and how to make a meaningful impact in this dynamic space.

Join us for an engaging conversation with Wan-Li Zhu, the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Suffolk Technologies, as he shares insights from his extensive background in venture capital and his motivation for launching Suffolk Tech. Suffolk Technologies, the venture capital affiliate of Suffolk Construction, is at the forefront of driving innovation in the construction industry.

In this episode, Wan-Li discusses why the construction sector has been slow to adopt technology and how Suffolk Technologies plays a pivotal role in changing this dynamic. He explains how Suffolk Tech differentiates itself in the VC ecosystem, leveraging its unique position to raise capital, source deals, and work closely with portfolio companies.

We also dive into some of Suffolk Tech's recent investments, exploring the trends and themes that Wan-Li finds most exciting, including where technology and investment trends are heading over the next 5-10 years across established and emerging markets.

Tune in to gain valuable insights from Wan-Li Zhu on the future of technology in construction and the global opportunities that lie ahead.