Crusoe Energy, a startup building data centers reportedly to be leased to Oracle, Microsoft, and OpenAI, is in the process of raising a massive $818 million, according to an SEC filing. The company has already secured $686 million of the total amount, with 70 investors contributing to the tranche so far.

The funding round, which is expected to bring Crusoe's total raised to approximately $1.5 billion in equity and debt, comes as the startup pivots from its cryptocurrency roots to focus on providing high-performance computing and AI infrastructure. Crusoe's data centers are powered by natural gas that would otherwise be wasted, making it an attractive option for companies looking to reduce their environmental impact.

The boom in "neocloud" startups building low-cost, on-demand clouds for AI is driving investor interest, with companies like CoreWeave, Lambda Labs, and Together AI also securing significant funding in recent months. However, the environmental impact of these build-outs is a growing concern, with IDC expecting global data center electricity consumption to more than double between 2023 and 2028.