Data centre developer Crusoe has raised $3.9 billion in a Series F funding round as it expands its infrastructure for artificial intelligence computing.

The investment has increased the company’s valuation to approximately $30.9 billion and will support the development of large data centres and smaller modular facilities.

The funding round was co led by Atreides Management, Mubadala Capital and Valor Equity Partners.

Other participating investors included Founders Fund, GIC, Nvidia, Qatar Investment Authority, Radical Ventures and TPG. 

Crusoe also announced the appointment of three new board members with backgrounds in cloud infrastructure, digital infrastructure and energy storage.

The company said the new capital would help finance existing projects, including a major data centre site in Abilene, Texas, used by OpenAI.

It will also support the development of smaller modular AI facilities known as Spark, which can be transported and connected to large power sources in different locations.

Crusoe generates revenue by leasing data centre space to customers, renting computing hardware and providing computing capacity for artificial intelligence applications.

The company has attracted major customers and recently secured a multibillion dollar cloud infrastructure agreement with financial trading firm Jane Street.

Founded in 2018 as a cryptocurrency mining company using excess natural gas, Crusoe later shifted its focus towards artificial intelligence infrastructure as demand for computing power increased. 

The company now counts major technology firms among its customers and is exploring further expansion of its AI infrastructure business.

Source: TechCrunch