Keel shares rise 10% on executive hire

• Keel appointed former Digital Realty executive Ganesh Aiyer as president, sending its shares up 10% in early trading.
• The appointment supports Keel's expansion into AI infrastructure following its shift away from bitcoin mining.
• The company said Aiyer will lead commercial growth and expansion of its data centre power pipeline.

Keel Infrastructure (NASDAQ:KEEL) shares rose 10% in early trading after the company appointed former Digital Realty executive Ganesh Aiyer as president to lead its commercial growth and power pipeline expansion.

Aiyer previously served as chief business officer at Digital Realty and also held senior leadership roles at Schneider Electric and Dell Technologies before joining Keel.

“Ganesh has a strong track record of execution and understands how to build go-to-market strategies around differentiated products,” said Keel Chief Executive Officer Ben Gagnon.

Keel said Aiyer will oversee its commercial strategy and pipeline expansion as the company continues developing high-performance computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure across North America.

The appointment marks another step in Keel's transition from Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) mining to AI infrastructure, and following the announcement Keel shares were up about 10% in early trading.

Keel rebranded from Bitfarms in April, and in its first earnings report under the new name reported a US$145 million net loss for the first quarter as it restructured operations, exited Latin America and redirected investment towards AI infrastructure.

The company also reported approximately US$533 million in available liquidity to fund future projects, while its shares have gained more than 120% since the April rebrand.

At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $64,100.03.