Nebius, the rebranded Yandex, is poised to make a triumphant return to the public markets. The company, which has been focusing on cloud infrastructure for AI applications, is set to begin trading on the Nasdaq on Monday, October 21. This marks a significant milestone for the company, which was forced to halt trading in 2022 due to economic sanctions imposed on Russia.

Nebius, with its headquarters in the Netherlands, is aiming to become a leading player in the burgeoning "GPU-as-a-service" space in Europe. The company's unique position as a startup with deep roots in the tech industry offers investors an attractive alternative to the dominant U.S. hyperscalers like Alphabet and Microsoft.

Founded in 1997, Yandex was once synonymous with search in Russia. However, the company's ambitions extended beyond its domestic market. Yandex N.V., the Dutch holding company, went public on the Nasdaq in 2011, followed by a secondary listing on the Moscow Exchange. Despite its success, the Russia-Ukraine conflict cast a shadow over the company. Yandex co-founder and CEO Arkady Volozh was forced to resign due to EU sanctions. However, his removal from the sanctions list in March 2024 paved the way for his return as CEO of the newly formed Nebius.

Nebius is building upon one of Yandex's few remaining assets outside of Russia: a Finnish data center and AI cloud business. The company's goal is to become a European leader in AI compute, similar to CoreWeave, another company expanding its presence in Europe.

With $2 billion in the bank from the sale of its Russian assets, Nebius is well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for AI infrastructure. The company's decision to remain public offers investors a direct way to participate in the AI revolution.

"Our ambition is to build one of the world's largest specialist AI infrastructure businesses," said Volozh in a statement. "This requires access to technological expertise, graphics processing units, and capital. These are exactly what we have."

As Nebius prepares for its public debut, the tech world is watching with anticipation. The company's success could reshape the European AI landscape and provide investors with a new opportunity to benefit from the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence.