Verda raises $189M to advance its AI cloud and expand compute capacity

European
technology company Verda has raised $189 million in new funding to scale its
full-stack AI cloud and expand its compute capacity. The financing includes an
oversubscribed Series B led by Emergence Capital, alongside additional
investment.

Participants include MUFG Innovation Partners, Supermicro, Varma
Mutual Pension Insurance Company, Lifeline Ventures, 6 Degrees Capital (6DC),
byFounders and Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd), as well as angel
investors including Ola Tørudbakken of Meta and Mark Saroufim of Core Auto and
GPUMODE.

The
latest round brings Verda’s total funding to more than $450 million and,
according to the company, values it at over $1 billion, making it Europe’s
latest unicorn.

Founded
in Helsinki in 2020, Verda develops and operates a full-stack AI cloud,
managing infrastructure from physical data centres and hardware through to its
cloud platform and AI research. The company provides on-demand computing
infrastructure for AI workloads and operates across Europe, the US and Asia.

AI
is becoming critical infrastructure across industries, and the next few years
are a pivotal window for Europe. Our north star is to build the first true tech
company in Europe, with AI infrastructure as the starting foundation, and to
bring down the carbon footprint of compute worldwide. We’re proud of our
progress but are a long way from being done,

said
Ruben Bryon, Verda’s founder and CEO.

The
funding follows a period of growth for Verda, which reached a $165 million
annualised revenue run rate in July. The company has also recently opened
offices in London and San Francisco and plans further expansion across Europe,
the US and Asia.

Commenting
on the investment, Joe Floyd, General Partner at Emergence Capital, said demand
for AI compute continues to outpace available supply, adding that Verda is
expanding its capacity to address this demand.

Verda
will use the new funding to accelerate product development across all layers of
its AI cloud, from compute capacity to platform services for AI teams.

The
company plans to invest in areas including inference, multiply its compute
capacity over the next year and support its continued international expansion.