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.