European AI infrastructure company Nebius, formerly known as Yandex N.V., has raised $700 million in a private placement to fund its expansion into the U.S. market. Key investors include Nvidia, Accel, and Orbis, with Nebius issuing 33.3 million Class A shares at a slight premium to their trading price.

The Netherlands-based company, which rebranded after divesting its Russian assets, is positioning itself as a full-stack provider for AI companies with data centers, GPU clusters, and related services. Nebius is expanding its footprint with a mix of co-location facilities and greenfield sites, including new operations in Kansas City and Paris, alongside its flagship data center in Finland.

With $3 billion in available capital, Nebius has also raised its revenue guidance, projecting an annualized run rate (ARR) of $750 million to $1 billion by the end of 2025. As part of the funding round, Accel’s Matt Weigand will join Nebius’s board as an observer, pending formal election in 2025.

The company’s ambitious growth plans highlight its strategy to compete with both established hyperscalers and private players like CoreWeave, leveraging Nvidia's support to fuel its infrastructure expansion and AI market leadership. 💡💻