Startup CoreWeave, which specializes in building artificial intelligence infrastructure, was able to raise $1.1 billion in equity funding round and $7.5 billion in debt for larger investments in its cloud data centers.
The lending round was led by Blackstone’s funds. Coatue, Carlyle, BlackRock, Magnetar, and others also took part in this process.
Two weeks ago, the startup was valued at $19 billion in equity financing.
CoreWeave is currently a particular focus of attention from investors. This position of the startup is largely because it is one of the main providers of Nvidia chips, which are necessary for training and subsequent implementation of the functioning of artificial intelligence systems. It is worth noting that nowadays companies in almost all spheres of activity strive to integrate AI-based chatbots into their workflows and digital ecosystems. The specified virtual products became very popular after OpenAI’s ChatGPT debuted in 2022. This chatbot demonstrated the impressive cognitive abilities of artificial intelligence and became an example of how advanced technology can perceive the surrounding space in a variety of its aspects and dimensions in the context of such a paradigm of thinking that corresponds to the logical algorithms of human thought.
The supply of Nvidia graphics processing units, which are focused on AI, is limited. Against this background, CoreWeave to the mentioned processors has become a popular commodity. The startup, backed by Nvidia, is currently a full-fledged competitor to such leading global cloud infrastructure operators as Google and Amazon.
On its website, CoreWeave has published a message stating that the prices for its on-demand services are significantly lower than those of any other company that owns cloud platforms. Even Microsoft has started to rely on the startup. The corresponding actions of the technology giant are due to its desire to provide OpenAI with the necessary computing power.
Colette Kress, Nvidia’s finance chief, said at a Citigroup event in September that CoreWeave has quite some skills in terms of implementation speed and adoption.
A representative of the startup did not respond to a media request about whether the company uses Nvidia GPUs as collateral for new debt financing. Last year, these processors were applied as collateral as part of a $2.3 billion debt-raising round.
The new debt will allow CoreWeave to pay for servers that are equipped with GPUs, network equipment, and cabinets.
Brad Marshall, global head of private credit strategies at Blackstone, said that the startup has established itself as a leading provider of critical infrastructure to support the AI revolution.
As we have reported earlier, Perplexity AI Raises About $63 Million.
Serhii Mikhailov
Serhii’s track record of study and work spans six years at the Faculty of Philology and eight years in the media, during which he has developed a deep understanding of various aspects of the industry and honed his writing skills; his areas of expertise include fintech, payments, cryptocurrency, and financial services, and he is constantly keeping a close eye on the latest developments and innovations in these fields, as he believes that they will have a significant impact on the future direction of the economy as a whole.
