A sign is posted in front of the headquarters of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) on May 10, 2022 in Santa Clara, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Vultr, a startup that rents graphics processing units and other cloud infrastructure to businesses, has raised $333 million in a deal that values the company at $3.5 billion. AMDthe venture and hedge fund arm of LuminArx Capital Management led the round.
Founded in 2014 and known as a low-cost virtual server provider, Vultr offers GPUs from AMD and competitors Nvidiawhich is in high demand due to the rise of generational artificial intelligence. This is the first time the company has taken equity financing, although Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase agreed to extend a $150 million credit facility for the company in 2021.
Nvidiathe biggest beneficiary so far of the AI wave, has invested in specialized cloud providers CoreWeave. AMD core processing units are also available through Vultr, along with Intel at.
Unlike the major cloud providers, Vultr doesn't have its own AI chip to compete with AMD or Nvidia.
“We will never try to build GPUs and compete to that level,” Vultr CEO JJ Kardwell told CNBC in an interview.
The new release of capital will lead to international expansion, Vultr said in a report. The company currently has 32 data centers, most outside North America. Customers include at Microsoft Activision Blizzard, according to The Wall Street Journalwho previously reported on Vultr's funding.
Digital Oceana competitor to Vulr, will go public in 2021 and is now similarly valued at $3.5 billion.
Watch: The cloud computing environment is still 'very healthy', says Goldman Sachs' Eric Sheridan
