The funding round follows reports of Crusoe's talks to raise about $500 million led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Felicis Ventures. If successful, the new funding will bring Crusoe's total raised to approximately $1.5 billion in equity and debt. The company previously secured $200 million in debt using its data center chips as collateral. However, the environmental impact of such build-outs could be significant, with global data center electricity consumption expected to more than double between 2023 and 2028.
Key takeaways:
- Crusoe Energy is raising $818 million, with $686 million already secured, according to an SEC filing. This would bring the startup's total raised to approximately $1.5 billion in equity and debt.
- The company, which started as a cryptocurrency business, has pivoted to providing high-performance computing and AI infrastructure. It has secured deals with AI companies and is planning to build a massive data center in Texas.
- There is a growing market for "neocloud" startups building low-cost, on-demand clouds for AI, with companies like CoreWeave and Lambda Labs securing significant funding.
- The environmental impact of these data center build-outs could be significant, with global data center electricity consumption expected to more than double between 2023 and 2028, and data center tech suppliers predicted to create emissions equivalent to 2.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2030.