European AI infrastructure company Nebius, previously known as Yandex N.V., has raised $700 million to support its expansion into the U.S. market.
This funding round, described by CEO Arkady Volozh as backed by “dozens of well-known investors,” includes contributions from Nvidia, venture capital firm Accel, and asset manager Orbis. Details about the other investors will be revealed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The private placement involves issuing 33.3 million Class A shares at $21 each, reflecting a 3% premium over the stock’s average price since its trading resumed.
Nebius re-entered the Nasdaq in October after a three-year hiatus caused by sanctions on Russian-affiliated companies. Formerly the Netherlands-based holding company for Yandex, often called “the Google of Russia,” Nebius rebranded in July 2024 following an extensive divestment process. The company now focuses on providing comprehensive AI infrastructure services while operating additional businesses such as:
Avride: A Texas-based autonomous vehicle company.
Toloka: A generative AI and large language model (LLM) business based in the Netherlands.
TripleTen: An education technology platform headquartered in Wyoming.
Nebius is pursuing a hybrid growth strategy that combines co-location data centers (shared facilities) and custom-built “greenfield” sites. While this approach accelerates development, it also requires significant funding.
The company faces competition from cloud giants and private players like CoreWeave, which also counts Nvidia as an investor. While CoreWeave is expanding into Europe, Nebius is moving into the U.S., recently establishing a GPU cluster in Kansas City. Additionally, the company has added a co-location site in Paris and plans to triple the capacity of its flagship data center in Finland.
Following the sale of its Russian assets earlier this year, Nebius retained $2.2 billion in reserves. A portion of this was initially allocated for a buyback program to allow investors from its Yandex era to exit. However, with shares trading around $21—far above the $10.5 per-share buyback offer—the program is no longer necessary, freeing up additional capital.
Currently, Nebius has approximately $3 billion available for expansion. CEO Volozh emphasizes that building large-scale infrastructure remains a capital-intensive process, and the company may pursue additional funding through equity or debt to sustain its growth.
Nebius has also updated its financial outlook, now expecting an annualized run rate (ARR) of $750 million to $1 billion by the end of 2025, up from its earlier projection of $500 million to $1 billion.
As part of the funding agreement, Accel partner Matt Weigand will join Nebius’s board of directors, initially as an observer. He will assume full board membership following the annual shareholder meeting in 2025.
Nebius’s strategic plans and strong investor backing highlight its ambition to become a leading provider of AI infrastructure in the global market.
