By Luciana Magalhaes

SAO PAULO, May 16 (Reuters) - Brazilian investment firm Patria Investimentos PAX.O on Friday announced the launch of Omnia, a hyperscale data center platform that will invest about $1 billion in its first project in the next 18 to 24 months, as cloud computing and artificial intelligence adoption accelerates in Latin America.

The region, particularly Brazil, is emerging as a hub for data center investors, drawn by its abundance of renewable energy and relatively unconstrained growth prospects, standing in contrast to the more saturated markets in the U.S. and Europe.

According to Felipe Pinto, Patria's partner responsible for infrastructure investments in the region, global demand for data centers is expected to more than double by 2030, with capacity in Latin America potentially more than tripling in the next few years, requiring up to $50 billion in new funding.

Patria's investment in Omnia will be channeled through one of its infrastructure funds and will focus mainly on artificial intelligence, with the firm seeking to meet the needs of major global technology players.

According to Rodrigo Abreu, Patria's operating partner of digital infrastructure and Omnia's CEO, the "focus is on developing large-scale projects that cater to the world's top technology firms - a group of 10 to 15 global companies."

Patria had previously created Odata, a data center firm that was acquired by U.S.-based Aligned Data Centers in 2023.

Omnia will focus on Brazil, Mexico and Chile, utilizing exclusively renewable energy sources.

The first campus is slated for construction in Brazil, with work expected to start in the second half of the year. The exact location of the project, however, has not been disclosed yet.

According to Abreu, Brazil offers good locations in metropolitan areas and, along with the rest of Latin America, boasts a relatively favorable regulatory environment and geopolitical neutrality, making it an attractive spot for such investments.

(Reporting by Luciana Magalhaes; Editing by David Gregorio)

((Luciana.NovaesMagalhaes@thomsonreuters.com;))