2 days ago
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TLDR
- CoreWeave raised $1.5 billion in its IPO, pricing shares at $40 each
- The company downsized its offering from 49 million to 37.5 million shares
- Nvidia placed a $250 million order, strengthening its stake in the AI cloud firm
- CoreWeave has a valuation of about $23 billion on a fully diluted basis
- The company has deep ties to crypto through a deal with bitcoin miner CoreScientific
AI cloud company CoreWeave has completed its initial public offering (IPO), raising $1.5 billion by selling 37.5 million shares at $40 each. The company initially planned to sell 49 million shares at a price range of $47 to $55 per share.
The downsized offering comes amid what Bloomberg described as a “choppy stock market.” This resulted in a valuation of approximately $23 billion on a fully diluted basis, lower than the $35 billion valuation the company had initially sought.
CoreWeave provides access to Nvidia graphics processing units for artificial intelligence training and workloads. The company has positioned itself as a key player in the growing AI infrastructure space.
The New Jersey-based firm recorded nearly $1.9 billion in revenue last year. Despite this impressive figure, the company still reported a net loss of approximately $863 million to $900 million, highlighting the capital-intensive nature of its business model.
CoreWeave’s business requires heavy investment in equipment purchases and real estate expenditures. This has contributed to its current financial situation where high revenue is paired with ongoing losses.
Nvidia, which is already an investor in CoreWeave, placed a $250 million order in the offering. This move strengthens Nvidia’s stake in the AI cloud services firm and shows continued confidence in CoreWeave’s business model.
Growth and Challenges
The IPO represents one of the biggest tech offerings since 2021. It serves as a major test for tech startups and the venture capital market after an extended period with few new offerings.
The last venture-backed tech company that raised at least $1 billion for a U.S. IPO was Freshworks in 2021. Last year, Reddit and Rubrik each raised about $750 million in their offerings.
CoreWeave has strong ties to the cryptocurrency industry through a multi-billion dollar deal with bitcoin miner CoreScientific. This partnership aims to expand CoreScientific’s artificial intelligence capabilities.
Microsoft is CoreWeave’s biggest customer. Other clients include major tech companies like Meta, IBM, and Cohere, demonstrating the firm’s ability to attract high-profile business partners.
A week after filing to go public, CoreWeave announced a contract with OpenAI worth up to $11.9 billion over five years. As part of this deal, OpenAI agreed to buy $350 million in CoreWeave stock.
CoreWeave’s shares are set to start trading on the Nasdaq on Friday, March 28, 2025. They will trade under the ticker symbol “CRWV.”
Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, and Goldman Sachs & Co. are acting as joint lead bookrunners for the offering. These financial institutions are helping manage the public offering process.
CoreWeave is competing with some of the biggest tech companies in the world. These include Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, which are the three leading providers of public cloud infrastructure in the United States.
The IPO comes at a time when some AI-focused firms have seen weakness in their stock prices. Nvidia’s own stock price is down 12% since the beginning of the year, reflecting broader concerns about the AI sector.
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