By Arasu Kannagi Basil

(Reuters) -Nvidia ( NVDA )-backed CoreWeave's revenue surged more than eight-fold in 2024, the cloud provider disclosed on Monday in its U.S. initial public offering paperwork, as the startup presses ahead with the first major artificial intelligence listing in New York this year.

The filing lays the groundwork for what could be one of the biggest stock market flotations in recent years and comes as the IPO market springs into action after the seasonal February lull.

Roseland, New Jersey-based CoreWeave, along with some existing shareholders, will sell shares in the proposed offering. The company is likely to target raising more than $3 billion from the share sale, Reuters reported in November.

Founded in 2017, CoreWeave provides access to data centers and high-powered chips for AI workloads, mainly supplied by Nvidia ( NVDA ). It competes against cloud providers such as Microsoft's ( MSFT ) Azure and Amazon's ( AMZN ) AWS.

CoreWeave, whose customers include hedge fund Jane Street, as well as tech giants Meta, IBM ( IBM ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ), is expected to aim for a valuation greater than $35 billion in its New York flotation, Reuters reported.

The company in November was valued at $23 billion after a $650 million secondary share sale. 

CoreWeave's revenue vaulted to $1.92 billion in 2024, compared with $228.9 million a year earlier. Its net loss widened to $863.4 million in the same period from $593.7 million in 2023.

"CoreWeave should be one of the headline IPOs of 2025. We've been waiting for a tech company like this to break the ice," said Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO-focused research and ETFs.

CoreWeave has raised more than $14.5 billion in debt and equity across 12 financing rounds. In May, CoreWeave raised over $7 billion in one of the largest private debt financing rounds in history, led by asset managers Blackstone and Magnetar.

DATA CENTER BOOM

The explosive growth in use of AI applications across sectors in recent years has turbocharged global demand for digital infrastructure such as data centers, the powerhouse behind the boom. 

The launch of low-cost AI models from China's DeepSeek earlier this year rattled investors and raised fears of a pullback in AI spending. Those worries were exacerbated after TD Cowen analysts last month suggested Microsoft ( MSFT ) was scrapping some data center leases.

But AI bellwether Nvidia's ( NVDA ) quarterly earnings last week showed that the AI boom was not dead yet and allayed doubts around a slowdown in AI spending by tech giants. 

A successful share sale for CoreWeave could encourage other AI companies to move ahead with their listing plans.

"A lot of other AI companies are sitting on the sidelines, waiting for another IPO to crack open the window a bit more. IPO markets have had a shaky start to the year, but a successful listing from CoreWeave could really help get the ball rolling," Kennedy said. 

Data center operator Switch is weighing an IPO at about a $40 billion valuation, Reuters reported in September. Nvidia ( NVDA ) rival Cerebras Systems mulled going public last year but postponed its roadshow amid delays with a U.S. national security review, Reuters has reported.

CoreWeave's data center footprint grew to 32 in 2024, compared with 10 in 2023. The company runs more than 250,000 graphics processing units in total.

Its major shareholders include investment firms Magnetar and Fidelity. Chip giant Nvidia ( NVDA ) holds a 6% stake in CoreWeave.

CoreWeave, which has tapped 14 banks for the IPO, will list on the Nasdaq under the symbol "CRWV."

Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs are the lead underwriters for the offering.

The IPO proceeds will be used for working capital and other purposes, including debt repayment.