Cisco To Invest In Hot AI Startup CoreWeave: Report

The networking giant has agreed to invest in Nvidia-backed cloud AI upstart CoreWeave, a company that's currently valued at $23 billion.

Cisco Systems is reportedly investing in cloud AI upstart CoreWeave, an emerging player that's currently valued at $23 billion.

CoreWeave is a cloud computing provider that’s among the hottest companies in the AI arena. The startup is heavily backed by Nvidia and private equity firms.

Cisco declined to comment on the news, first reported by Bloomberg, on the potential investment.

[Related: Cisco To Consolidate Bay Area Offices, Shifting Employees To Splunk Office]

Roseland, N.J.-based CoreWeave, which was founded in 2017, in May announced a $1.1 billion funding round, which brought its valuation from $19 billion, to its current $23 billion valuation just six months later. The company is reportedly planning to hit the public markets next year with an IPO expected by the first half of 2025, The Information reported in May.

The company offers specialized cloud computing and owns a large amount of high-powered

graphics processing units (GPUs). The upstart builds cloud offerings for compute-intensive use cases like AI which can be up to 35X faster and 80 percent less expensive than public clouds, according to the company.

Chipmaker Nvidia has invested more than $100 million in CoreWeave.

Cisco has been heavily investing in the AI space as evidenced by its massive $28 billion acquisition of Splunk in 2023. The networking giant earlier this year bought AI security trailblazer Robust Intelligence for an undisclosed sum. Cisco also announced its intent to acquire Deeper Insights AI Ltd., a privately held AI services company based in the U.K.