AI mania set to hit ASX as SharonAI, Firmus target listings

The Australian share market will collide with the AI revolution in 2026 when two of the nation’s early-stage companies at the heart of the next-generation technology hit the public market.

Sydney-founded SharonAI plans to list on the ASX in the June quarter and has already bagged investments from US tech giants Nvidia, Cisco, and Lenovo, alongside local data centre business NextDC.

It’s also tipped to beat rival Australian AI pureplay business Firmus to the ASX boards, as the latter aims to go public by July on a blockbuster valuation between $8 billion and $12 billion.

New breed AI pureplays

Sharon AI rents out access to equipment and high-end computer chips from Nvidia and AMD, which businesses need to power their AI services or processing.

It already has one share market listing in the US on the Nasdaq Index where it raised $US125 million in February to hit the tech-heavy market at $US30 per share.

“Customer demand across the AI native, research, government enterprise and hyperscale cohorts has continued to accelerate into early 2026,” said SharonAI’s co-founder James Manning.

Investors say both businesses sit in the growth sweet spot of servicing rocketing demand for data centre capacity from large corporates. Since January, SharonAI has signed deals with Sydney-based graphic design giant Canva and Indian software group ESDS Software Solutions.

“We believe that we are well positioned to win new customers and achieve significant scale in the Asia-Pacific region, supported by its product and service offering and sector tailwinds driven by anticipated structural demand for accelerated computing. This growth is underpinned by the strategic engagements which we have in place,” the company said.

Its Nasdaq-listed shares climbed to $US34.54 on Tuesday on a market value of $US555 million ($778 million).

In Australia, the company founded in 2024 has hired investment banks Macquarie Group and Canaccord Genuity to help deliver a local listing. On Wednesday, its co-founder and former Bell Financial capital markets deal maker, Nick Hughes-Jones, declined to comment further on the business.

Firmus tipped as ASX’s other pure AI operator

SharonAI’s larger rival is Singapore-based Firmus, which also has a heavy contingent of Sydney-based private investors on its current ownership register.

The most famous is its 40-year-old co-founder and former capital markets deal maker Oliver Curtis, husband of Sydney public relations entrepreneur and socialite Roxy Jacenko.

Mr Curtis is best known for his criminal record after being convicted of insider trading and sentenced to two years’ jail in New South Wales in 2016.

Soon though the Sydney socialite couple are likely to see Firmus catapult them towards the top of of Australia’s rich lists if the AI-native business meets expectations for a share market initial public offer value as high as $12 billion.

Firmus already has billionaires James Packer and Wes Maas on its register alongside many of Australia’s most high profile funds management groups. These include Phil King’s Regal, Ashok Jacob’s Ellerston Capital, Paradice Investment Management, Wilson Asset Management, Argo Investments and UniSuper.

In the US, comparable businesses to have recently linked on the share market have been volatile as investors struggle to value them amid swinging sentiment towards technology stocks.

In March 2025, AI-cloud business CoreWeave hit the Nasdaq boards at $US40 per share and has since soared to $US117.20 on Tuesday. Like SharonAI, it’s seen as an AI pureplay as all its revenue comes from data centre capacity running on Nvidia-powered servers.

Elsewhere on the ASX on Wednesday the S&P/ASX Tech Sector jumped 2.4 per cent amid renewed hope the US and Iran may reach a peace deal to contain soaring energy prices. Wall Street futures also pointed to a flat open as US indices near record highs despite the inflationary impact of the war.