Last Friday was an important day for Andrew Coe and his company, DC2GO, which manufactures portable, customized data centres in Dartmouth. The company signed its first major sales contract.

But as he does every Friday, Coe drove out to the company’s prototype on a side road in Dartmouth’s Burnside Park.

Friday is the day when he runs its generator and makes sure all the components — the generator, cooling and security systems — are working smoothly.

But during conversation as he inspected the premises — really, a data centre built into a shipping container — he kept coming back to the sale and its importance for the startup.

 “It proves our solution is viable in the market,” said Coe, 24. “It gives us quite a bit of credibility to say someone is putting money behind us.”

What’s impressive about the DC2GO story is how quickly Coe has got to a strong stream of revenues. The company has bid on $5 million in tenders since it started last October, and has been shortlisted for each tender it bid on.

Though Coe is reluctant to discuss specific contracts, he did say the company is on track to exceed $1 million in revenue when it ends its first year in October.

Coe began to do tech consulting work around Halifax when he was 14, and a few years ago he realized there was a demand for data centres that were secure, portable and resilient. They could be used in disaster recovery, as telecom relay centres and meet the needs of a range of clients. Three years ago, he and his partner Jessica Gomes began to work on their prototype and last October opened for business.

The idea was not a complicated one: they decided to build a data centre inside a shipping container so it could be placed anywhere and moved at will.

Data centres are basically stacks of servers, and as the world becomes more and more dependent on data analytics, they become more critical to the operations of companies and large organizations. And the owners of data centres need to know they will run all the time, regardless of power outages, natural disasters or whatever.

DC2GO’s solution to this demand was to build data centres within shipping containers. Each unit has a generator to be used as a backup power system in case of an emergency.

There’s enough fuel to last several days. There are two air conditioners in each unit, with the second kicking in if the first cuts out.

The interior is fitted out like a small office. The prototype has four racks of servers, though they can hold as many as 20. The layout includes a small anteroom, meaning there are two doors to the data centre itself, providing double security.

DC2GO will now start filling the order it just won and has the capacity to build 15 units simultaneously.

Coe said the company will build the units through the summer and they should be ready by September.

So far, the company has been funded with $150,000 Coe has put into the enterprise. He is now raising financing with the goal of raising about $500,000, which will be used to expand the manufacturing facility and establish an office and sales team.