DataCrunch's $13M raise will help it become an affordable green energy-powered hyperscaler
DataCrunch recently announced an important milestone in its quest to become a leading AI-focused cloud hyperscaler running on renewable energy: it has raised $13 million in seed funding from byFounders. The funding round also included participation from J12 Ventures, prominent angel investors, Local Tapiola, and Nordea.
Ruben Bryon founded DataCrunch in 2020 to address the growing challenges of AI computing costs and accessibility after experiencing them first-hand. The company operates data centers in Finland and Iceland, which allow DataCrunch to tap renewable energy directly from the grid and leverage highly efficient cooling systems. Its data centers in Helsinki are powered by 50% hydroelectric and 50% wind power, while its operations in Iceland are completely powered by geothermal energy. Moreover, the company claims it captures waste heat from one of its Helsinki data centers and reuses it to heat the city.
The environmental impact of AI has been harder and harder to overlook, as some of the biggest players like Google and Microsoft have publicly admitted they are struggling to reach their carbon footprint reduction goals and are increasingly turning to accelerate the generation and adoption of nuclear power in the US as a cleaner source of energy to power their massive data centers.
Moreover, in addition to being a key differentiator for customers who are mindful of their environmental impact, DataCrunch's location, power sources, and cooling technologies yield a financial advantage for the company: savings in energy consumption translate to competitive pricing, which is an important element in the company's strategy.
The raised funding will support DataCrunch's plans to "expand [its] services, enhance [its] use of renewable energy-powered data centers, and make the next generation of AI computing accessible to more innovators." In particular, it will accelerate the launch of NVIDIA H200 servers and the adoption of GB200 NVL72 clusters in the coming year. These infrastructure upgrades will significantly enhance the company's service capabilities and processing speed, advancing DataCrunch's mission to become a hyperscaler that makes AI accessible, affordable, green, and scalable.