Verda: The Rise of Europe’s Newest Unicorn in AI Cloud Technology

Verda Raises €164.8 Million to Scale AI Cloud and Becomes Europe’s Latest Unicorn

Verda, formerly known as DataCrunch, a Helsinki-based AI infrastructure company, has announced a significant achievement today by securing €164.8 million ($189 million) in fresh funding to expand its full-stack AI cloud. This funding round has elevated the company to unicorn status in Europe.

The Series B funding was oversubscribed and led by Emergence Capital, with additional investments from various notable investors including MUFG Innovation Partners, Supermicro, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company, Lifeline Ventures, 6 Degrees Capital (6DC), byFounders, Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd), and a group of angel investors such as Ola Tørudbakken (Meta) and Mark Saroufim (Core Auto and GPUMODE).

Verda’s founder and CEO, Ruben Bryon, expressed the company’s vision, stating, “AI is becoming critical infrastructure across industries, and the next few years are a pivotal window for Europe. Our north star is to build the first true tech company in Europe, with AI infrastructure as the starting foundation, and to bring down the carbon footprint of compute worldwide. We’re proud of our progress but are a long way from being done.”

Established in 2020 by Bryon, Verda positions itself as a full-stack AI cloud company that oversees everything from physical data centers and hardware to the cloud platform and AI research. Notably, the company’s data centers in Finland operate on 100% renewable energy, leveraging the Nordics’ natural advantages in clean electricity and cooling efficiency.

Last November, the company underwent a rebranding from DataCrunch to Verda. The name change signifies the company’s commitment to technological integrity and sustainable innovation, as mentioned by the company. Verda is derived from the Spanish word for ‘true’ and the Esperanto word for ‘green’.

Verda’s recent achievement follows its attainment of a €143.85 million ($165 million) annualized revenue run rate in July and the acquisition of a €22 million loan from the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB). Earlier in April, the Finnish unicorn secured nearly €102 million ($117 million) in equity funding led by Lifeline Ventures.

In September of the previous year, Verda raised a total of €55 million in a Series A round led by byFounders, Skaala, Varma pension fund, and Tesi. In 2024, it secured a €12 million Seed funding round, accumulating a total funding of over €392.3 million ($450 million).

Joe Floyd, General Partner at Emergence Capital, highlighted the increasing demand for AI compute and Verda’s proactive approach in securing and scaling capacity. Floyd emphasized Verda’s potential to become a significant AI infrastructure company in the market.

Utilizing the raised capital, Verda aims to expedite product development across all layers of its AI cloud, from compute capacity to platform services for frontier AI teams in the agentic era. Additionally, the company plans to invest in areas such as inference and expand its compute capacity in the coming year.

Verda has recently expanded its presence by opening offices in London and San Francisco and has further plans for expansion across Europe, the United States, and Asia. Operating globally, the company boasts a diverse workforce of around 250 individuals representing over 40 nationalities.