The cloud-based GPU infrastructure provider is testing the waters of the IPO market.
Corporate-backed cloud computing company CoreWeave plans to sell shares for less than expected at $40 each in an initial public offering today, serving as a litmus test for investor appetite in the sector as the first large AI-centred startup to go public.
Jack Cassel, senior vice president at Nasdaq, told the audience at the GCVI Summit in Monterey, California, last week that the expected IPO of CoreWeave will act as an indicator for the strength of the IPO market.
The company is seeking to sell 37.5 million shares, 23.5% less than originally planned. Last week, it announced plans to sell shares in the $47 to $55 per share range.
The $23bn-valued company’s shares are expected to start trading on Wall Street today, the success of which could open the door for more AI startups to go public.
CoreWeave is backed by Nvidia, its biggest corporate shareholder, with a 6% stake, Zoom Ventures and cloud storage company Pure Storage.
Other corporate backers listed in the IPO announcement are Barclays (Barclays UK Ventures), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG Innovation Partners), Citigroup (Citi Ventures), Mizuho Financial Group (Mizuho Innovation Frontier), Santander (Mouro Capital) and Deutsche Bank (Deutsche Bank Securities).
The company officially filed for a Nasdaq IPO at the start of this month. It pivoted from its initial focus on crypto mining into AI infrastructure as ChatGPT’s success unfolded.
