Verda Becomes Europe’s Latest AI Unicorn

Helsinki-based Verda has become one of Europe’s newest billion-dollar AI infrastructure companies after announcing a €164.8 million ($189 million) funding round on September 22, 2026.

The company, formerly known as DataCrunch, is building cloud infrastructure specifically designed for artificial intelligence workloads. Its platform provides developers and organizations with on-demand access to high-performance GPU computing.

From a Helsinki Garage to AI Infrastructure

Verda was founded in 2020 by Ruben Bryon, who started the company as a self-serve GPU cloud from his garage in Helsinki. The company initially focused on solving a basic but increasingly important problem for AI developers: access to sufficient GPU computing capacity.

According to Verda, the company became cash-flow positive within weeks of its launch. It later raised $13 million in seed funding in 2024 and $64 million in Series A funding in 2025.

In 2025, DataCrunch changed its name to Verda as the company expanded its ambition from a GPU cloud provider into a broader European AI infrastructure platform.

The $189M Unicorn Milestone

The latest €164.8 million financing has pushed Verda into unicorn territory, making it one of Europe’s newest privately valued AI infrastructure companies.

The funding is designed to support the expansion of Verda’s AI cloud platform and its international infrastructure footprint.

The company has already expanded beyond Finland, with offices in London and San Francisco, while continuing to develop its European infrastructure base.

Why GPU Infrastructure Matters

Modern AI systems require enormous amounts of computing power.

Training large models, running inference and operating AI agents all require access to advanced GPUs. That has created a new infrastructure layer between traditional cloud computing and AI companies.

Verda is positioning itself inside this layer.

Instead of building AI models itself, the company provides the computing infrastructure that AI companies can use to train and operate their systems.

This creates a business model similar to cloud computing, but optimized around the unusually high compute requirements of modern AI.

Europe’s AI Infrastructure Push

Verda’s strategy also connects with a broader European concern: dependence on large U.S.-based cloud providers.

The company says its European AI cloud is designed around data sovereignty, security and regulatory requirements. Its Finnish infrastructure is powered by renewable energy, which is another major part of its positioning.

Verda has also become an NVIDIA Preferred Partner and has deployed advanced NVIDIA GPU systems for AI workloads.

Scale Before the Unicorn Moment

The unicorn milestone comes after substantial operational growth.

Verda says it had more than 200 employees globally by 2026 and reached a $100 million revenue run rate during the first half of the year.

The company also says it has raised around $200 million in total funding across its financing history.

Its customers have included AI companies, enterprises and organizations using the platform for training and inference workloads.

The Bigger Startup Story

Verda’s rise highlights how the AI startup economy is expanding beyond model developers.

The first wave of generative AI investment focused heavily on companies building foundation models and AI applications. A parallel infrastructure market is now developing around the hardware, cloud platforms, data centers and specialized computing systems required to operate those models.

That creates opportunities for companies that can provide compute more efficiently, reliably and at scale.

Verda is betting that AI computing will become critical infrastructure—and its latest funding round gives the company significantly more capital to pursue that opportunity.

What Comes Next

The next phase for Verda will be international expansion and infrastructure scale.

The company needs to continue expanding GPU capacity while maintaining performance, reliability and competitive pricing. At the same time, it will need to manage the enormous capital requirements associated with AI infrastructure.

Its unicorn milestone is therefore less about a single funding announcement and more about the emergence of a new European AI infrastructure player.

From a GPU cloud launched in a Helsinki garage to a billion-dollar AI infrastructure company, Verda’s journey shows how quickly the economics of AI computing are changing.