As AI accelerates cloud adoption beyond the ability of finance teams to adapt, Cloud Capital is launching the first FinTech platform dedicated to cloud services. The platform enables companies to forecast usage, identify opportunities for savings, and mitigate financial risks associated with long-term cloud agreements.
The company launches today with $7.7 million in funding to help CFOs regain control of their cloud systems. Backed by Connect Ventures, Backed Ventures, and Middlegame Ventures, Cloud Capital is revolutionising how finance teams manage cloud spending and mitigate risks across the $344 billion cloud infrastructure sector.
Cloud Capital’s funding journey began with a $2.3 million pre-seed round led by Connect Ventures and supported by notable fintech investors. Strong customer traction and investor interest led to an additional $5.4 million seed round just three months later, led by Backed Ventures and Middlegame Ventures, with participation from DFF Ventures.
The AI boom is fueling a $344B cloud cost crisis for CFOs
Cloud infrastructure has emerged as the fastest-growing expense in the technology sector, with the intensification of AI adoption further accelerating this trend. As companies deploy and train AI models, cloud usage is surging, driving cloud spending to a projected $344 billion run rate by Q4 2024, with annual growth exceeding 20%. This pace suggests cloud expenses will surpass $1 trillion by 2030.
To meet this demand, major cloud providers are significantly expanding their capacity. Global data centre spending jumped 51% in 2024 to $455 billion, with a focus on AI-ready infrastructure. This expansion relies on customers signing long-term contracts, effectively transferring financial risk to the buyers.
CFOs face a critical challenge: cloud costs now rank second only to personnel expenses, consuming 6% to 12% of revenue for SaaS companies and 30% to 40% for AI-focused firms. This rapid cost escalation has led to 27% of organisations exceeding their cloud budgets⁴, while 40% of potential savings go unrealised. Though engineering teams typically manage cloud spending, CFOs and CTOs share oversight responsibilities without adequate tools for accurate cost prediction and management.
“Cloud has always been a massive cost centre but with AI workloads driving usage through the roof, it’s become the fastest growing and least controlled line item on the P&L,” said Zack Liscio, Co-founder & CPO. “CFOs are being asked to approve major cloud investments without the visibility or control to manage the risk. We built Cloud Capital to give them the tools they need to forecast spend, manage risk, and make smarter decisions.”
A recent study found that 27% of organisations exceed their cloud budgets, with up to 40% of potential savings untapped. This isn’t merely inefficiency—it’s a structural problem stemming from poor alignment between finance and engineering teams, inadequate forecasting tools, and complex cloud billing models.
How Cloud Capital puts CFOs back in control of cloud spend
The company was founded by Edward Barrow (CEO), Spencer Pingry (CTO), and Zack Liscio (CPO) — serial entrepreneurs who have built and sold successful SaaS companies across the US and Europe, including Idio, Zaius, and Naytev. After collaborating at Optimizely, where they witnessed the challenges of cloud cost management firsthand, they recognised the need for a finance-focused solution. Together, they’ve managed over $500 million in cloud spend and created Cloud Capital to address the problems they experienced directly.
“We believe cloud infrastructure is the largest broken market in tech,” said Edward Barrow, Co-founder & CEO. “We’ve been in the driver’s seat; we’ve built the forecasts and lived the pain. We built Cloud Capital to give CFOs the same level of control over cloud that they have across the rest of the P&L.”
A fintech platform for cloud financial control
Spencer Pingry, Co-founder & CTO, concluded: “Cloud Capital is shifting the dynamic and giving finance leaders the tools to run cloud like any other major investment. Unlike traditional optimisation tools, Cloud Capital takes a ‘100% FinTech’ approach to cloud infrastructure, treating it like a financial asset, not just an engineering cost, precisely quantifying and pricing commitment risk based on our proprietary, free-to-use forecasting platform.
Other tools help engineers save money. We help CFOs manage risk. We’re building financial infrastructure — a control layer for cloud that gives companies a new way to finance and optimise cloud like any other major investment.”
Cloud Capital’s AI-powered platform combines real-time usage data, engineering plans, and financial models to forecast spending and identify risk-free savings opportunities. For companies ready to commit, Cloud Capital goes further, underwriting the financial risk of long-term cloud contracts and absorbing liability on the customer’s behalf.
“Cloud Capital is tackling one of the most urgent and overlooked problems in tech: the lack of financial control in cloud infrastructure,” said Rory Stirling, Partner at Connect Ventures. “We backed this team because they’ve lived the problem, and they’re building with a clarity and conviction that only comes from first-hand experience. They’re not just optimising costs, they’re reshaping the financial infrastructure of the cloud era.”
