Nebius Group dispenses a sum of $700 million to Volog
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Intriguing news! Dutch Yandex N.V., now known as Nebius Group, managed to rake in a massive $700 million in a private placement back in 2024. The big spending spree was confirmed by none other than Arkady Volozh, CEO of Nebius, who also happened to land at the 88th spot on our website's list of Russian billionaires with a whopping net worth of $1.5 billion. This delightful tidbit of information comes courtesy of Bloomberg.
Now, here's the breakdown: Nebius will be issuing 33.3 million shares at $21 each, here's looking at you, investors! Volozh reveals that numerous big-name investors got involved, but only shared the names of three: GPU Nvidia, Accel, and investment management company Orbis. Nebius plans to use this newfound cash for one exciting mission – expanding their AI infrastructure, with a particular focus on GPU clusters – those fancy chips powering AI and cloud services in data centers.
Speaking of GPU Nvidia, rather than being an investor per se, they're more like tech buddies thanks to their partnership with DGX Cloud. Nothing's official when it comes to Orbis' investment in Nebius, but hey, a boy can dream, right?
Volozh is all smiles about possibly getting early access to Nvidia's Blackwell processor, but stresses that the investment won't guarantee that. He joked, "The deal isn't tied to graphics processors, but our close relationship with Nvidia certainly hasn't gone unnoticed, and we're crossing our fingers for some sweet, sweet processor love."
On the horizon, Nebius anticipates another, potentially ginormous, fundraising event in 2025.
Now, for a bit of backstory, Nebius was born out of the restructuring of Yandex's business into Russian and international entities in 2022. Once Russia's "special operation" in Ukraine began, trading with Nebius came to a screeching halt, they faced a default risk, and some of their overseas businesses froze up like a popsicle left out in the cold. In March 2022, Yandex Group's managing director, Tigran Khudaverdyan, found himself on the naughty list as he was hit with sanctions from the European Union and UK. Laggy but not done, Volozh received sanctions from the EU in June, but those pesky sanctions were lifted from Volozh by March 2024.
Following a deal with a consortium of investors – including Yandex managers, "Lukoil," and three private investors – Yandex N.V. sold their Russian business. By July 2024, that deal was completed, Yandex N.V. kissed goodbye to their shareholder structure, but kept their international business intact. Cue dramatic trombone sound And with that, Yandex N.V. changed their name to Nebius Group, deciding to link their business to the world of artificial intelligence. The green light was given by Nasdaq to start trading in Nebius shares from October 21.
Stay tuned for more juicy details as we dive deeper into Nebius' dynamic journey!
*As a responsible content provider, it's important to note that, in adherence to Russian law (Article 57 of the Media Law), all media must use only official Russian sources when preparing materials about the special operation in eastern Ukraine. We cannot publish materials that refer to the operation as "attack," "invasion," or "declaration of war," unless it is a direct quote.
Note:Interestingly, while the search results suggest Accel and Nvidia as investors in Nebius, they don't reveal GPU Nvidia as an investor in the context provided. Instead, they mention it as part of their industry ties through partnerships like DGX Cloud. Regarding Orbis, no confirmation of investment is found in the search results. For a complete list of investors, it would be best to hear it directly from Nebius or additional, verified sources.
With the newfound funds, Nebius Group might explore potential investments in cutting-edge technology, specifically toward enhancing their AI infrastructure.Given Nebius' partnership with Nvidia and Accel's reported involvement in their investments, it could be possible that finances could be directed toward advanced technology developments in the future.
