Verda Secures €22M NIB Loan for AI Compute Growth

Helsinki-based AI infrastructure provider Verda has secured a significant €22 million loan from the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB). This new financing, backed by the InvestEU programme, arrives just months after the company successfully closed a €102.5 million funding round. The capital infusion is earmarked for bolstering Verda's high-performance computing capabilities, specifically through the acquisition of advanced Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and associated networking and storage infrastructure.

The strategic deployment of these resources will focus on expanding Verda's data center capacity, primarily within Finland. This move directly addresses the escalating demand for computational power driven by the rapid advancements and widespread adoption of artificial intelligence and data-intensive applications. Verda, formerly known as DataCrunch, positions itself as a critical enabler for AI development, offering on-demand access to scalable compute power without the traditional complexities of cloud procurement. The company emphasizes its end-to-end management of AI infrastructure, from physical hardware to the software tools developers utilize.

Verda's commitment to sustainability is a key differentiator. Its Finnish data centers operate exclusively on renewable energy, leveraging the Nordics' abundant clean electricity and efficient cooling environments. This focus on green operations is reflected in the company's rebranding from DataCrunch to Verda, a name derived from Spanish for 'true' and Esperanto for 'green,' symbolizing its core values of integrity and sustainable innovation. This ethos aligns with the NIB's mandate to fund projects that promote productivity and environmental sustainability.

The company has demonstrated impressive growth, recently reporting an €87.6 million revenue run rate, a tenfold increase within an 18-month period. With a diverse team of over 130 employees from more than 30 nationalities, Verda is actively pursuing further expansion, aiming to double its workforce by 2026. This latest loan from NIB, a multilateral financial institution supporting Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden, underscores the growing importance of robust digital infrastructure in Europe.

Ruben Bryon, founder and CEO of Verda Cloud, highlighted the critical role of AI as essential infrastructure. "With the support of NIB and our other financing partners, we can expand our capacity and keep serving AI teams with instant access to high-performance computing at scale," Bryon stated. This sentiment was echoed by Jeanette Vitasp, Vice-President and Head of Lending at NIB, who noted, "Access to high-performance computing is increasingly important for innovation and competitiveness. By supporting the expansion of cloud infrastructure in Finland, NIB is contributing to strengthening digital capacity in Europe."

This financing follows substantial previous investments, including a €55 million Series A round led by byFounders, Skaala, Varma pension fund, and Tesi, as well as a €12 million Seed funding round in 2024. The continuous flow of capital into Verda signals strong investor confidence in its AI infrastructure model and its potential to capture a significant share of the rapidly expanding AI compute market, which is projected to see substantial growth in the coming years.