CoreWeave, a cloud infrastructure company specializing in AI workloads, announced today the launch of a venture capital arm to invest in AI-focused startups. The company’s stock jumped to over 4.6% following the announcement.
The venture capital initiative named CoreWeave Ventures will provide AI-focused startups with a combination of investment capital, computer power, and technical guidance to bring new ideas to market more quickly. The company also highlighted that it will support developers building platforms, tools, and applications that advance the next phase of AI and computing innovation.
CoreWeave unveils venture fund to accelerate startup growth
CoreWeave revealed that the venture arm will offer startups direct capital investment, compute for equity arrangements, and access to its AI-optimized cloud and production-grade testing clusters. The startups will also benefit from a go-to-market guidance shaped by CoreWeave’s enterprise network of AI-first organizations.
Brannin McBee, co-founder and Chief Development Officer, stated that the venture reflects the company’s founding mission. He noted that the firm was started with a conviction that AI’s true promise required a cloud platform built from the ground up to optimize for AI-specific workloads. He reiterated the company’s goal to give other audacious, like-minded founders the support needed to drive technical advancements and bring the market to the next phase of innovation.
McBee told the Wall Street Journal that investments linked to the venture initiative could range from seven to nine figures, with nine companies already backed. He also disclosed the acquisition of OpenPipe, a reinforcement learning startup, reflecting the fund utilization for both acquisition and direct investments.
According to CoreWeave, the program is already in use, with early entrants such as Moonvalley benefiting from its support to scale quickly and focus on innovation. Some startups are already building on top of it, from foundational model developers to companies pursuing vertical AI applications and infrastructure solutions. The cloud infrastructure company framed the initiative as more than just financial backing, insisting on its technical alignment with portfolio companies.
CoreWeave stock jumps 4.67% following AI capital fund announcement
CRWV’s stock reaction to the news was immediate, with a 4.67% rise realized today and a day range of $97.05 – $103.89. The stock YTD is up 144.8% with a year range of $33.52 – $187.00. The stock has more than doubled since its March IPO, when it debuted at $40 per share. The growth has been linked to CoreWeave’s partnerships, including a collaboration with OpenAI and other large hyperscalers, including Nvidia.
The Nvidia-backed cloud infrastructure company’s Q2 revenue reached $1.2 billion, but it ended in a net loss of $291 million due to high expenses and high interest costs. The company ended Q2 with a $30.1 billion revenue backlog.
The cloud infrastructure stock suffered pressure after missing the adjusted EPS in recent months, raising concerns from investors who cited tight margins and escalating costs. The firm had increased its full-year guidance to $5.15 – $5.35 billion.
Cryptopolitan reported last month that insiders at CoreWeave and early backers sold more than $1 billion worth of shares after the IPO lock period expired. The firm’s director, Jack Cogen, offloaded nearly $300 million in stock. The firm is also facing scrutiny over its proposed $9 billion acquisition of Core Scientific following pushback from investors.
Some analysts have warned that the risk tied to the cloud infrastructure firm’s capital needs, customer concentration, and high borrowings is huge. Despite the sell-off after the IPO block was lifted, some bankers revealed that demand for insider share blocks remained strong, showing the firm’s role in the AI infrastructure boom. The cloud infrastructure firm hopes to create a pipeline that benefits both its earnings and future demand for computing power.
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Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/coreweave-stock-jumps-amid-ai-fund/
