AI Infrastructure Provider Crusoe Raises $600M In New Funding, Boosts Valuation To $2.8B

The company also said that its Crusoe Cloud platform, with resources and managed services tailored for AI and machine learning workloads, is now generally available.

Crusoe, provider of vertically integrated infrastructure for cloud-based AI, has raised $600 million in a Series D funding round that boosts the company’s valuation to $2.8 billion.

In addition to the new funding, Crusoe on Thursday announced the general availability of Crusoe Cloud, a high-performance platform the company says is tailored for AI and machine learning workloads.

The San Francisco-based company said that starting today developers and data scientists can access the cloud platform’s resources, managed services and “enterprise-grade support” for AI exploration, model training, fine-tuning and scalable inference workloads.

As businesses and organizations ramp up their development of AI, GenAI and machine learning software and put those systems into production, demand is spiking for high-performance, high-capacity compute and data storage systems – either on-premises or from cloud service providers.

Crusoe describes its mission as providing “a reliable, cost-effective, and environmentally aligned solution for AI infrastructure by harnessing large-scale clean energy, building AI-optimized data centers, and empowering builders with a feature-rich development platform,” according to a statement announcing the new funding and the Crusoe Cloud general availability.

“We believe a new approach is needed to power the AI revolution,” said Chase Lochmiller, Crusoe CEO and co-founder, in the statement. “To reduce complexity, accelerate time-to-value, and support the most demanding AI solutions, customers need a vertically integrated approach. We are able to innovate faster and bring new, state-of-the-art capacity online in a fraction of the time compared to legacy cloud providers while delivering unmatched results for customers, making the promises of AI a reality.”

Crusoe that with the new funding it will “invest in expansion and growth across the value chain,” including its data centers and Crusoe Cloud. The company also puts an emphasis on utilizing “clean, abundant and low-cost energy” to power its computing resources.

The company said it has over 15 gigawatts in development, including building a data center in Abilene, Texas, with planned capacity of 1.2 gigawatts. That project, announced in October, is part of a $3.4 billion joint venture with Blue Owl Capital, an alternative asset manager, and Primary Digital Infrastructure, an advisory and investor firm focused on the data center industry.

Crusoe said its customer count has grown seven-fold in the past 12 months and the company now operates in nine states and three countries.

The Series D investment round was led by Founders Fund with participation from a number of new and existing investors including Fidelity, Long Journey Ventures, Mubadala, Nvidia, Ribbit Capital and Valor Equity Partners.

“Crusoe is reimagining AI infrastructure from the ground up to meet and exceed organizations' demands, powering the next wave of innovation in a sustainable way,” said Sean Liu, Partner at Founders Fund, in a statement. “By innovating at every layer of the stack, Crusoe delivers unmatched price-performance, speed-to-market, and a platform customers can rely on for years to come.”