Helsinki’s Verda Raises $189M at $1B+ Valuation to Scale AI Cloud

Verda, the Helsinki-based AI cloud infrastructure company formerly known as DataCrunch, has raised $189 million in an oversubscribed Series B funding round, taking its valuation above $1 billion and making it one of Europe's newest AI cloud unicorns.

The round was led by Emergence Capital, with participation from Supermicro, MUFG Innovation Partners, Varma, Lifeline Ventures, 6 Degrees Capital, byFounders and Tesi.

The latest financing brings Verda's total funding to more than $450 million. The company says it is already cash-flow positive and plans to use its growing financial base to secure additional AI compute capacity as demand for GPUs continues to rise.

From a Helsinki garage to AI infrastructure

Verda's story began in 2020, when founder and CEO Ruben Bryon built his first server rack in a garage in Helsinki.

Bryon, an engineer from Belgium, started the company to provide additional GPU capacity to machine learning researchers who faced high prices and complexity when using major cloud providers.

The company initially operated under the name DataCrunch before rebranding as Verda in November 2025.

The business has since evolved from a small GPU provider into a broader AI cloud infrastructure company.

Verda now manages the infrastructure required to provide AI compute, including its own data centers and the software used for model training and deployment.

The company operates data centers in Finland and Iceland, where it uses renewable energy to power its infrastructure.

$189M Series B takes Verda above $1B

The new $189 million Series B was led by Emergence Capital.

Other investors participating in the round include Supermicro, MUFG Innovation Partners, Varma, Lifeline Ventures, 6 Degrees Capital, byFounders and Tesi.

The funding round was oversubscribed and brings Verda's valuation to more than $1 billion.

The company had already raised significant capital before reaching unicorn status.

In November 2025, Verda raised $64 million in its Series A round.

With the latest financing, the company's total funding now exceeds $450 million.

That figure remains substantially below the amount raised by some of the larger AI infrastructure companies, but Verda says its focus on financial discipline and operating efficiency has allowed it to reach cash-flow positivity.

A different approach to AI cloud infrastructure

Verda is competing in a market dominated by large cloud providers and rapidly growing specialized AI infrastructure companies.

The company's proposition is based on controlling more of the infrastructure stack.

Verda operates its own data centers and develops the software used for AI model training and deployment.

Its Nordic infrastructure provides access to relatively low-cost renewable energy, which the company says allows it to offer substantially lower prices than major cloud platforms.

According to Verda, its services can be up to 90% cheaper than comparable offerings from AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

The company argues that this cost structure gives customers an alternative as demand for GPU compute continues to grow.

Securing access to GPUs

GPU availability has become a major factor in the AI infrastructure market.

AI companies and enterprises need large amounts of specialized computing capacity to train and run increasingly sophisticated models.

Verda became one of NVIDIA's Preferred Partners in 2025, giving it priority access to GPU supply.

That relationship has helped the company secure hardware during a period when demand for AI accelerators has significantly increased.

The ability to obtain and deploy GPUs efficiently is increasingly becoming a competitive factor for AI cloud providers.

Customers across technology

Verda has attracted customers across several technology sectors.

Its customer base includes Nokia, robotics company 1X, ExpressVPN and creative platform Freepik.

The company says it reached cash-flow positivity within weeks of starting operations, although it has since grown considerably in both scale and infrastructure requirements.

The business is now operating at a much larger level than when Bryon first began assembling GPU infrastructure in Helsinki.

Revenue growth

Verda's annualized revenue run rate reached $165 million by July 2026, according to the source.

That compares with approximately $100 million previously.

The increase reflects growing demand for the company's AI compute infrastructure as more companies deploy machine learning and generative AI applications.

Verda says demand for AI compute continues to exceed available supply.

That supply-demand imbalance has created opportunities for specialized infrastructure providers that can secure GPUs and deploy capacity quickly.

Expanding beyond Finland

Verda has expanded its geographic footprint alongside its infrastructure.

The company opened offices in London and San Francisco at the beginning of 2026.

Its workforce has grown to approximately 250 employees representing more than 40 countries.

That is nearly twice the company's employee count from the previous year.

The international presence allows Verda to operate closer to customers and AI companies in major technology markets while continuing to use its Nordic infrastructure base.

Renewable energy and AI compute

Energy consumption has become a major issue as AI infrastructure expands.

Large GPU clusters require significant amounts of electricity, making energy costs and availability important considerations for cloud infrastructure providers.

Verda operates data centers in Finland and Iceland that are powered by renewable energy.

The company sees this Nordic infrastructure as both an economic and environmental advantage.

Lower-cost renewable electricity can help reduce operating costs while also lowering the carbon intensity associated with AI compute.

Verda's longer-term ambition is to build AI infrastructure while reducing the carbon footprint of computing.

Competing with much larger players

Verda is entering an increasingly competitive AI infrastructure market.

Other specialized AI cloud providers have raised significantly more capital.

UK-based Nscale, for example, has raised more than $3.6 billion and reached a reported valuation of $14.6 billion following its Series C.

CoreWeave, which is publicly listed on Nasdaq, has also secured substantial AI infrastructure contracts and reported a large revenue backlog.

San Jose-based Lambda reached a reported $5.9 billion valuation following its Series E and has also been preparing for a potential public offering.

Compared with those companies, Verda has raised considerably less capital.

Its strategy is therefore centered on efficiency and infrastructure economics rather than simply competing through the largest possible balance sheet.

Profitability as a differentiator

Verda says it is already cash-flow positive.

That is notable in the AI infrastructure sector, where companies often require substantial capital expenditure to purchase GPUs, construct or operate data centers and secure electricity capacity.

The company says its profitability reflects the economics of its Nordic infrastructure and its approach to operating the business.

Whether those economics can remain attractive as competition increases and GPU infrastructure becomes increasingly capital intensive will be an important question for the company.

For now, Verda is using its financial position to continue expanding capacity.

A rapidly growing AI infrastructure market

The broader AI cloud infrastructure market is also expanding rapidly.

The source estimates that the global AI cloud infrastructure market is worth approximately $58.5 billion in 2026 and could reach around $297 billion by 2034.

The growth is being driven by increasing adoption of AI models across technology, enterprise software, robotics, financial services and other industries.

As more companies move from AI experimentation toward production deployments, demand for reliable GPU infrastructure is expected to remain an important part of the technology stack.

This creates an opportunity for both major cloud providers and specialized AI infrastructure companies such as Verda.

Building a European AI infrastructure company

Verda's ambitions extend beyond simply becoming another GPU cloud provider.

Founder and CEO Ruben Bryon says the company wants to build a major European technology company with AI infrastructure as its starting point.

The company's geographic position is central to that strategy.

By combining Nordic renewable energy, dedicated data centers, GPU access and its own software infrastructure, Verda is attempting to build an integrated AI cloud platform.

Its expansion into London and San Francisco also gives it a presence in two major technology markets.

What comes next

The $189 million Series B gives Verda significant new capital to expand its AI infrastructure and secure additional computing capacity.

The company now has more than $450 million in total funding, a valuation above $1 billion and approximately $165 million in annualized revenue.

Its next phase will involve expanding infrastructure, growing its international operations and competing for customers in a market where demand for AI compute continues to rise.

Founded from a garage in Helsinki in 2020, Verda has grown into a 250-person company serving customers including Nokia, 1X, ExpressVPN and Freepik.

Its challenge now is to maintain the cost advantages and financial discipline that have differentiated it while scaling against AI infrastructure companies with substantially larger capital bases.

For Europe's AI ecosystem, Verda's rise also reflects the growing importance of compute infrastructure as the foundation for the next generation of artificial intelligence.