AI infrastructure company Nebius Group has raised $700 million in a private funding round led by Nvidia, Accel, and accounts managed by Orbis Investments. This capital injection aims to support Nebius’ mission to expand its full-stack AI infrastructure and enhance its capabilities to serve AI developers worldwide.
Founded by Arkady Volozh, the former CEO of Yandex, Nebius emerged as an independent entity following a $5.4 billion split of Yandex’s domestic and international assets. Trading in Yandex shares on the Nasdaq had been suspended after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Nebius revived the listing as part of the separation.
“This financing gives us the firepower to build our AI infrastructure faster and on a larger scale,” said Volozh. Nebius plans to focus on building GPU clusters, cloud platforms, and developer tools to address the growing demands of the AI industry.
Nebius is leasing data center space in Kansas City, Missouri, and may extend its operations further in the U.S., where over half its clients are based. The company has committed to investing $1 billion by mid-2025 and indicated that additional investments may follow as it scales its operations.
The $700 million private placement will see Nebius issue 33,333,334 Class A shares at $21 per share, representing a 3% premium to the average trading price since Nasdaq resumed trading of its stock. The financing was oversubscribed, reflecting strong investor confidence.
With the new funding, Nebius has raised its annualized revenue target for 2025 to between $750 million and $1 billion, up from its prior estimate of $500 million at the lower end.
Nebius also announced that it would no longer pursue a share buyback plan initially approved during the Yandex split. “The strong investor engagement and technical dynamics observed since trading resumed indicate that those who wanted to exit have had the opportunity to do so,” said Nebius Board Chairman John Boynton.
