CoreWeave Launches Venture Arm to Back AI Startups, Stock Rises

Shares of CoreWeave (CRWV) surged as much as 9% on Monday following the announcement of CoreWeave Ventures, a new venture capital arm targeting early-stage artificial intelligence startups. The stock remained up 4.5% by midday, reflecting strong investor confidence in the initiative.

The fund will focus on startups developing AI tools, infrastructure, and applications. While the capital allocation remains undisclosed, the MOVE aligns with CoreWeave's broader mission of supporting high-performance computing for machine learning and generative AI. "Our aim is to empower audacious founders to drive the next wave of innovation," said Brannin McBee, CoreWeave’s co-founder.

The launch intensifies competition among cloud infrastructure providers in the AI sector. Rival firm Nebius secured a $19.4 billion deal with Microsoft on the same day, lifting AI and data center stocks across the market. CoreWeave, known for its AI-optimized cloud services, went public earlier this year at $40 per share and peaked at $187 in June.