Cloud computing firm CoreWeave in talks to sell shares at $23 billion valuation – BNN Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — CoreWeave, a cloud services provider that is among the hottest startups in the race for artificial intelligence, is in talks to sell existing shares valued at $23 billion, people familiar with the matter said.

The Roseland, New Jersey-based company, led by CEO Michael Intrator, is discussing a deal that would allow current shareholders such as employees to bid for shares worth $400 million to $500 million, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. Terms have not been finalized and could still change, one of the people said.

The decision comes as the company considers an initial public offering, which could take place as early as next year.

A CoreWeave representative declined to comment.

The $23 billion valuation would mark another sharp increase for CoreWeave, a premium over the $19.1 billion valuation the company received in May when it closed on a roughly $1.1 billion preferred equity investment from investors including Coatue Management and Magnetar Capital. The company was valued at $7 billion in a previous round in December.

In May, the company also secured a new $7.5 billion credit line from lenders including Magnetar, Blackstone Inc. and Carlyle Group Inc.

CoreWeave, which counts Nvidia Corp. among its investors, was an early adopter of Nvidia graphics chips for data centers, riding a wave of demand for high-performance processors to power AI applications. It builds data centers based on Nvidia chips to offer AI-related computing.

CoreWeave investors also include Investment Management Corporation of Ontario, Jane Street and JPMorgan Asset Management.

In March, CoreWeave named Nitin Agrawal, a former Google executive, as its chief financial officer. In a statement announcing Agrawal’s appointment, Intrator said CoreWeave was entering a “monumental growth phase.”