Denver-based data centre innovator Crusoe is making waves again, raising $1.38 billion in a Series E round that values the company at $10 billion. The round, co-led by Valor Equity Partners and Mubadala Capital, also features major backers including Nvidia, Fidelity Management, and Founders Fund. A few months back, it was reported that the company is eyeing to raise funding at $10 billion valuation.
With this latest funding, Crusoe is not just building data centres but also the way they are powered. By combining deep energy expertise with infrastructure execution, the company is emerging as one of the most consequential players in the race to build the physical backbone of the AI era.
Transforms wasted gas into data power
Crusoe’s journey began in 2018 by Chase Lochmiller and Cully Cavness with an unconventional idea of turning wasted natural gas from oil fields into energy for portable data centres used in cryptocurrency mining. The early focus on energy efficiency evolved into a much bigger mission of powering large-scale data infrastructure sustainably. The company has fully exited its crypto operations to concentrate on building and operating next-generation data centres that fuel AI workloads.
As AI systems demand exponentially more power, energy efficiency has become the new frontier of innovation. Crusoe’s expertise in managing stranded energy sources and its shift toward sustainable operations give it a unique edge in the competitive data centre market. Its integration of cleaner power generation and strategic partnerships with global technology leaders position it as a critical enabler of the next computing wave.
Backbone of AI growth
A major milestone for Crusoe came with the 1.2-gigawatt Abilene, Texas campus, which went live just a year after construction began. The site, developed for OpenAI and Oracle, represents the first phase of the ambitious Stargate project, a landmark effort to expand U.S. data capacity for advanced computing. Beyond Texas, Crusoe is also constructing a 1.8GW campus in Wyoming and operating natural gas-powered centres in Alberta, Canada.
