AI Cloud Provider CoreWeave Files for IPO After Breakout Year

CoreWeave has filed for what could become one of 2025's most significant tech IPOs.

The New Jersey-based company, which pivoted from crypto mining to AI infrastructure six years ago, officially submitted its S-1 registration filing to the SEC on Monday, naming Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan as lead underwriters. 

While reports had previously detailed CoreWeave's $4 billion raise, at a valuation exceeding $35 billion, what stands out is its financial performance. 

The numbers point to an explosive growth for the cloud computing company, aligned externally with how demand for AI infrastructure has boomed.

CoreWeave reported $1.9 billion in revenue for fiscal 2024, representing a staggering 737% increase compared to 2023, according to its own financial data cited in the filing.

Despite its growth trajectory, CoreWeave recorded an $863.4 million net loss, reflecting substantial infrastructure investments and interest expenses on nearly $8 billion in debt.

The company's most recent quarterly results showed $747.4 million in revenue with a 76% gross margin and $112.7 million in operating income.

CoreWeave also disclosed $15.1 billion in unfulfilled contract obligations, providing significant revenue visibility.

Still, those numbers have led to concerns about whether revenue could shift in the opposite direction.

"This is just a big pile of quickly depreciating GPUs and servers in a few buildings, with some ‘in the money’ contracts signed during a shortage," Jeffrey Emanuel, founder and CEO of AI-powered Layer 1 chain Pastel Network, posted on X. 

"If the market turns to a GPU oversupply scenario, people are going to look through to the underlying spot earnings and it's going to be really ugly," he said.

CoreWeave did not immediately respond to Decrypt's request to comment on that point.

Founded in 2017 as Atlantic Crypto by former commodities traders Michael Intrator, Brian Venturo, and Brannin McBee, the company initially mined Ethereum before strategically pivoting to AI infrastructure in 2019. 

The shift positioned CoreWeave to capitalize on the AI boom following OpenAI's ChatGPT release in 2022.

"Legacy cloud providers make it extremely difficult to scale because they offer a limited variety of compute options at monopolistic prices," CEO Intrator wrote in a 2021 blog post, highlighting the market gap CoreWeave targeted.

Intrator controls about 38% of voting power, per the filing.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair