Startup Crusoe Nets $11.6B In Fresh Financing For Massive New OpenAI Data Center

Crusoe Energy Systems, a Denver-based startup that builds data centers, has secured $11.6 billion in new debt and equity funding commitments for a massive new facility it’s building for AI giant OpenAI in Texas, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The eight-building data center is expected to be the largest used by OpenAI and one of the largest AI datacenters in the world. It is considered to be the first phase of The Stargate Project, an ambitious $500 billion AI joint venture created by OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle and MGX to build new AI infrastructure in the U.S.

Crusoe and investment firm Blue Owl Capital are both contributing cash as part of the latest financing for the facility, per the Journal. Crusoe began construction on the facility in Abilene last June after striking a deal with cloud infrastructure giant Oracle to lease it. OpenAI in turn agreed to rent servers from Oracle.

Crusoe has raised $1.6 billion in funding to date, according to Crunchbase data. The startup has received backing from venture firms Founders Fund, G2 Venture Partners and Bain Capital Ventures, among others. While the company has continued to attract funding from major backers, energy-related startup funding overall has not scaled up with the AI sector’s appetite for power. In 2024, global investment in energy startups actually hit its lowest point in four years, Crunchbase data shows.

OpenAI has raised $58 billion in funding to date. The San Francisco-based startup raised $40 billion in a SoftBank-led round in April, marking the largest venture funding deal on record. It’s now valued at $300 billion, making it the second-most valuable private company in the world behind SpaceX.

Related Crunchbase lists:

• Funding To Data Center Startups
• Energy Startup Funding
• Rounds Raised By Startups Using AI

Related reading:

• Power Consumption Is Rising. Energy Startup Funding? Not So Much
• Eye On AI: As Big Money Rolls Into Data Centers, Startup Investment Gains

Illustration: Dom Guzman