Theo Lee ®
Founder of compute.inc. I build and run Internet infrastructure, and own a fair bit of it. Based between Oxford, Kent and Hong Kong.
Hi, I'm Theo. I put my first server on the Internet in 2017, when I was eleven. A year later I was running a VPN, and by the time I sold it in 2020 it had more than 160,000 devices connected and was doing about $1.5M a year. That same year I started a cloud host. It grew to over a thousand customers, more than five thousand VMs and past $2M a year before I sold it in 2024. Straight after, I built the first platform that could spin up RPC and validator nodes on demand. It passed $2M ARR within the year. I wound it down when the people using it turned out to want something different from what we'd built. I never went to university. In 2025 I joined HomeDAO in Oxford, the founder residency pump.fun and EXO Labs came out of. Today I run compute.inc. We own the whole stack: our own networks (AS9515, AS219070 and AS399670), our own IP space, and hardware in 34 datacentres across 23 cities, from Auckland to Toronto. We peer at 14 Internet exchanges, Fortune 500 companies keep their servers with us, and across the group we turn over more than $60M a year. I founded one of those exchanges myself. Kent IX started in Maidstone and now reaches into Telehouse North and Digital Realty in London. I run the network behind DroidHub, and through AS9515 and our friends at MoeDove I give free transit and IP space to research networks, non-profits and people building things I like. When hardware needs to be in a datacentre fast, I've been known to fly it there myself.
Founder, compute.inc
- Theo
- Network adapters
- AS9515 · compute.inc backbone
- AS219070 · compute.inc
- AS399670 · compute.inc
- AS219018 · DroidHub
- AS40115 · Kent IX RS1
- AS218849 · Kent IX RS2
- Internet exchanges (14)
- Kent IX · LONAP · GNM-IX · France-IX · FogIXP
- CHIX · 4IXP · SBIX · LocIX · ONIX
- FREMIX · NVIX · STUIX · ZXIX
- Storage (34 datacentres)
- Registries
- RIPE NCC (LIR) · ARIN · APNIC
- Other devices
- Cessna 152
- Network adapters
| Name | Role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| compute.inc | Founder | Our own network, top to bottom. GPU servers, colocation, dedicated servers and IP transit from 34 datacentres in 23 cities, on AS9515, AS219070 and AS399670. $60M+ a year across the group. |
| Kent IX | Founder | An Internet exchange I started in Maidstone, now reaching Telehouse North and Digital Realty LHR20 in London. Free 1G ports for anyone who wants to peer. |
| AS9515 Sponsorship | Founder | Free transit, BGP, IP space and servers for research networks, non-profits and projects I think are worth backing. |
| MoeDove | Partner | AS44324 and AS53808. We work closely with MoeDove and sponsor a number of networks through them. |
| DroidHub | Network operator | Decentralized robot control interface. Built a custom L1 for real-time command execution and low-latency streaming. Largest single prize at Junction, the world’s largest hackathon. I run its network, AS219018. |
| Virtualized.gg | Partner | US hosting company with sites in Phoenix and Fremont. |
| Web3 infrastructure | Founder · 2024 · Wound down | The first platform to auto-provision RPC and validator nodes on demand. Passed $2M ARR within the year; I wound it down once the user base moved away from what we built it for. |
| Cloud hosting | Founder · 2020–24 · Exited | Grew to more than 1,000 customers, 5,000 VMs and $2M+ a year before I sold it. |
| VPN | Founder · 2018–20 · Exited | Started it at twelve. Passed 160,000 devices and $1.5M a year before I sold it. |
| HomeDAO | Alum · 2025 | The Oxford founder residency behind pump.fun and EXO Labs. I still interview the people applying. |
| ASN | Network | Role |
|---|---|---|
| AS9515 | compute.inc | Backbone · APNIC |
| AS219070 | compute.inc | RIPE |
| AS399670 | compute.inc | ARIN |
| AS219018 | DroidHub | Operated by us |
| AS40115 | Kent IX | Route server 1 |
| AS218849 | Kent IX | Route server 2 |
| AS44324 | MoeDove | Partner |
| AS53808 | MoeDove | Partner |
I fly a Cessna 152 out of Enstone, just north of Oxford. Mostly for fun, occasionally to get hardware into a datacentre faster than a courier can.
- Licence
- PPL(A)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 152
- Base
- EGTN · Enstone
| ASN | Network | What | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| loading… | |||
Who is Theo Lee?
Theo Lee is a 19-year-old British-Hongkonger founder who has been building Internet infrastructure since he was 11. He has sold two companies, a VPN with more than 160,000 devices and a cloud host running 5,000+ VMs and more than $2M a year, and now runs compute.inc, an independent network spanning 34 datacentres in 23 cities across four continents with more than $60M in annual revenue across the group. He also founded the Kent Internet Exchange and is a licensed private pilot.
What is compute.inc?
compute.inc is Theo Lee’s infrastructure company. It runs its own backbone, AS9515, alongside AS219070 and AS399670, and sells GPU servers, colocation, dedicated servers and IP transit from 34 datacentres in 23 cities, from Auckland to Toronto. It peers at 14 Internet exchanges, hosts infrastructure for Fortune 500 companies, and together with its sister companies turns over more than $60M a year.
How did Theo Lee start?
He brought his first server online in 2017, aged 11, and launched a VPN the following year. He sold it in 2020 with more than 160,000 devices and about $1.5M in annual revenue, then built a cloud host to over 1,000 customers, 5,000 VMs and more than $2M a year before selling it in 2024. Straight afterwards he built the first platform to auto-provision RPC and validator nodes on demand, which passed $2M ARR within a year. He skipped university, joined HomeDAO in Oxford in 2025, and now runs compute.inc.
Which networks does Theo Lee operate?
Six autonomous systems: AS9515, AS219070 and AS399670 for compute.inc, AS219018 for DroidHub, and AS40115 and AS218849, the route servers of the Kent Internet Exchange. He is a RIPE NCC LIR and a member of both ARIN and APNIC, which lets him issue IP space and ASNs in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.
What is the Kent Internet Exchange?
Kent IX is an Internet exchange point Theo Lee founded in Maidstone, Kent. It has since been extended into Telehouse North and Digital Realty LHR20, two of London’s main interconnection hubs, and offers free 1G ports to any network that wants to peer.
What does Theo Lee sponsor?
Through AS9515 he gives free IP transit, BGP sessions, IP space and servers to research and education networks, non-profits and projects he thinks are worth backing. He also works closely with MoeDove (AS44324, AS53808) and sponsors networks through them.
長風破浪會有時，
直掛雲帆濟滄海。
A day will come to ride the long wind and break the waves; then I’ll hoist my sail to the clouds and cross the open sea.
李白《行路難》 · Li Bai
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