CoreWeave IPO: Nvidia-backed AI startup to raise $2.5 billion via public issue, asks investors to pay $47-$55/share

CoreWeave IPO: CoreWeave Inc., a cloud-computing provider that’s one of the hottest startups in artificial intelligence, and some of its investors are seeking to raise about $2.5 billion at the midpoint of a marketed range in an initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Nvidia Corp.-backed company and current shareholders are planning to offer the shares for $47 to $55 each, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information wasn’t public yet. CoreWeave is expected to disclose proposed terms for the listing and begin marketing the shares Thursday, the people said. 

A representative for CoreWeave declined to comment. The planned range for the share price and IPO target was reported earlier by Reuters. CoreWeave had revenue of $1.9 billion in 2024, resulting in a net loss of $863 million, versus revenue of $229 million and a net loss of $594 million in the previous year, according to its filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

About 77% of CoreWeave’s revenue came from its top two customers in 2024, one of which was Microsoft Corp., which accounted for nearly two thirds of overall sales, the filings show. CoreWeave has sealed two sizable deals ahead of its listing, including a pact to deliver AI infrastructure to OpenAI Inc. for up to $11.9 billion, according to a statement. The startup will receive $350 million worth of CoreWeave stock. 

The Livingston, New Jersey-based company has also agreed to acquire AI developer platform Weights & Biases for about 1 million shares of Class A CoreWeave shares, the filings show. That deal is expected to close in the first half of 2025, according to a statement.

CoreWeave, led by co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Michael Intrator, was started in 2017 as a crypto mining firm. Along with Nvidia, the firm counts Magnetar Capital, Coatue Management, Jane Street, JPMorgan Asset Management, Fidelity and Lykos Global Management among its investors.

The firm has also drawn backing from Cisco Systems Inc., which agreed to invest in CoreWeave as part of a transaction valuing it at $23 billion, Bloomberg News reported in October. Also that month, the company closed a $650 million credit facility led by JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley.

The AI cloud company has material weaknesses in its internal controls over financial reporting, according to the section of the filings where pre-IPO companies disclose the risks to their businesses. The issues cited included insufficient IT controls over applications supporting financial reporting and a lack of qualified personnel in related roles, the filings show. 

Intrator currently controls 2.4% of the company’s Class A shares and almost half the company’s Class B shares, giving him 38% of the shareholder voting power, according to the filings. Magnetar has 7.2% of the voting power, while Nvidia controls 1.2%.

The cloud computing infrastructure firm was an early adopter of Nvidia’s graphics chips for data centers, getting ahead of a wave of demand for powerful processors to run AI applications. It’s building out data centers based on Nvidia’s chips to offer AI-related computing. The IPO is being led by Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, along with 11 other advisers. CoreWeave’s shares are expected to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol CRWV.