Runpod announced a $20 million funding round co-led by Intel Capital and Dell Technologies Capital. This established an early private neocloud comparator for the report's watchlist.
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Runpod's financing shows that smaller AI/ML cloud platforms can attract strategic technology investors, but the modest round size and private-company status make it a watchlist rather than a direct public-equity candidate.
Crusoe announced the initial closing of a $1.375 billion Series E at an expected valuation above $10 billion. The financing supports its vertically integrated AI infrastructure and Crusoe Cloud platform.
Fluidstack said it raised an $830 million Series A in January 2026 at a $7.5 billion valuation, backed by investors supporting large-scale compute deployment for AI labs.
Nscale announced a $2 billion Series C valuing the company at $14.6 billion. The proceeds are intended to accelerate globally deployed, vertically integrated AI infrastructure.
Nebius and NVIDIA announce strategic AI-cloud partnership
NVIDIA and Nebius announced a strategic partnership covering next-generation AI factories and enabling Nebius to deploy more than 5 gigawatts of NVIDIA systems by the end of 2030.
Nebius signs up to approximately $27 billion of Meta-related capacity commitments
Nebius announced a five-year agreement to provide Meta with $12 billion of dedicated capacity, alongside additional capacity commitments of up to $15 billion. The total potential contract value is approximately $27 billion, with dedicated capacity beginning in early 2027.
Nebius introduces an asset-light infrastructure-partnership model
Nebius announced a model under which infrastructure partners finance and own the hardware and data centers while deploying Nebius's full-stack AI cloud platform. Nebius expects arrangements such as revenue sharing, licensing fees, commissions and committed-capacity agreements.
Nebius secures approximately $775 million of senior debt
Nebius announced its first senior secured debt facility of approximately $775 million, backed by deployed GPU infrastructure and contracted cash flows. The company said more than $40 billion of additional contracted revenue from investment-grade customers was already in place.
Applied Digital reports approximately $36 billion of contracted lease revenue
Applied Digital reported three 15-year take-or-pay leases with a high-investment-grade hyperscaler: two 300 MW leases and one 210 MW lease. Together with its broader portfolio, the company reported approximately 1.4 gigawatts of contracted critical IT load and approximately $36 billion of base-term contracted revenue, with major operations expected from 2027 onward.
CoreWeave reports $2.575 billion of Q2 revenue and $104 billion backlog
CoreWeave reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $2.575 billion and approximately $104 billion of revenue backlog as of June 30, 2026. The figures make CoreWeave the largest disclosed operating-scale exposure in the comparison, but not the lowest-risk one.
Nebius reports rapid growth, positive adjusted EBITDA and substantial cash
Nebius reported Q2 2026 revenue of $582.3 million, up 454% year over year, adjusted EBITDA of $236.2 million and cash and cash equivalents of $8.042 billion as of June 30, 2026. These results are the primary financial basis for identifying Nebius as the best overall public candidate.
IREN expands AI Cloud Services while remaining in transition from Bitcoin mining
IREN reported FY26 AI Cloud Services revenue of $128.8 million, up from $16.4 million in FY25, while Bitcoin Mining revenue was $578.2 million. The company described the results as reflecting an ongoing transition from Bitcoin mining to AI Cloud Services.
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By Intermission· 1,322 words
What are the best neoclouds to invest in?
Runpod raises $20 million for AI/ML cloud expansion
[10]Runpod announced a $20 million funding round co-led by Intel Capital and Dell Technologies Capital. This established an early private neocloud comparator for the report's watchlist.
Runpod's financing shows that smaller AI/ML cloud platforms can attract strategic technology investors, but the modest round size and private-company status make it a watchlist rather than a direct public-equity candidate.
Crusoe closes $1.375 billion Series E
[7]Crusoe announced the initial closing of a $1.375 billion Series E at an expected valuation above $10 billion. The financing supports its vertically integrated AI infrastructure and Crusoe Cloud platform.
Fluidstack raises an $830 million Series A
[8]Fluidstack said it raised an $830 million Series A in January 2026 at a $7.5 billion valuation, backed by investors supporting large-scale compute deployment for AI labs.
Nscale raises $2 billion Series C
[9]Nscale announced a $2 billion Series C valuing the company at $14.6 billion. The proceeds are intended to accelerate globally deployed, vertically integrated AI infrastructure.
Nebius and NVIDIA announce strategic AI-cloud partnership
[13]NVIDIA and Nebius announced a strategic partnership covering next-generation AI factories and enabling Nebius to deploy more than 5 gigawatts of NVIDIA systems by the end of 2030.
Nebius signs up to approximately $27 billion of Meta-related capacity commitments
[14]Nebius announced a five-year agreement to provide Meta with $12 billion of dedicated capacity, alongside additional capacity commitments of up to $15 billion. The total potential contract value is approximately $27 billion, with dedicated capacity beginning in early 2027.
Nebius introduces an asset-light infrastructure-partnership model
[15]Nebius announced a model under which infrastructure partners finance and own the hardware and data centers while deploying Nebius's full-stack AI cloud platform. Nebius expects arrangements such as revenue sharing, licensing fees, commissions and committed-capacity agreements.
Nebius secures approximately $775 million of senior debt
[16]Nebius announced its first senior secured debt facility of approximately $775 million, backed by deployed GPU infrastructure and contracted cash flows. The company said more than $40 billion of additional contracted revenue from investment-grade customers was already in place.
Applied Digital reports approximately $36 billion of contracted lease revenue
[5]Applied Digital reported three 15-year take-or-pay leases with a high-investment-grade hyperscaler: two 300 MW leases and one 210 MW lease. Together with its broader portfolio, the company reported approximately 1.4 gigawatts of contracted critical IT load and approximately $36 billion of base-term contracted revenue, with major operations expected from 2027 onward.
CoreWeave reports $2.575 billion of Q2 revenue and $104 billion backlog
[17]CoreWeave reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $2.575 billion and approximately $104 billion of revenue backlog as of June 30, 2026. The figures make CoreWeave the largest disclosed operating-scale exposure in the comparison, but not the lowest-risk one.
Nebius reports rapid growth, positive adjusted EBITDA and substantial cash
[2]Nebius reported Q2 2026 revenue of $582.3 million, up 454% year over year, adjusted EBITDA of $236.2 million and cash and cash equivalents of $8.042 billion as of June 30, 2026. These results are the primary financial basis for identifying Nebius as the best overall public candidate.
IREN expands AI Cloud Services while remaining in transition from Bitcoin mining
[6]IREN reported FY26 AI Cloud Services revenue of $128.8 million, up from $16.4 million in FY25, while Bitcoin Mining revenue was $578.2 million. The company described the results as reflecting an ongoing transition from Bitcoin mining to AI Cloud Services.
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