November 5, 2024
Startup Updates

Crusoe Energy Targets $500 Million Investment Led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund to Drive AI and Data Center Expansion

Crusoe Energy, a leader in innovative energy solutions for high-performance computing, is gearing up to secure $500 million in a fresh funding round led by Founders Fund, founded by billionaire Peter Thiel. With existing backers like Felicis Ventures joining the round, the financing will propel Crusoe’s valuation to an impressive $3 billion—almost twice its valuation from two years ago.

Founded in 2018, Crusoe Energy initially focused on reducing natural gas waste by deploying mobile data centers to oil wells. This method captured otherwise wasted “flared” natural gas, converting it into energy for cryptocurrency mining. However, as demand for high-performance computing and AI surged, Crusoe expanded its scope, embracing GPU-driven AI computing, marking a shift alongside many former crypto mining firms.

Recently, Crusoe announced a groundbreaking $3.4 billion joint venture with Blue Owl Capital, aimed at constructing a massive data center campus in Abilene, Texas. The new campus is expected to support Oracle, Microsoft, and OpenAI’s advanced computing needs, meeting the surging demand for AI resources and offering OpenAI a solution to the current constraints of Microsoft’s infrastructure.

In addition to its ventures in Texas, Crusoe has strategically positioned GPUs in Iceland’s ICE02 data center, operated by atNorth, to support data-intensive AI workloads. This expansion aligns with Crusoe’s broader strategy to become a significant player in the AI and HPC spaces, allowing companies to access large-scale GPU processing power with a minimized environmental footprint.

As the company accelerates its AI and cloud computing efforts, it joins a growing field of competitors, including CoreWeave, Northern Data, and Applied Digital, all working to address the infrastructure needs of the AI boom. With this latest funding, Crusoe is set to advance its commitment to sustainable, high-performance computing and support its ambitious expansion across multiple continents.

Crusoe’s innovative approach to sustainable energy and its strategic pivots in a rapidly evolving industry position it as a key contributor to the future of AI and data center infrastructure, making it an attractive partner for forward-thinking investors and enterprise clients alike