Profiling Six Leading Neocloud Companies

Artificial Intelligence (AI) workloads demand significant computing resources, necessitating enterprises to partner with reliable cloud service providers. Hyperscalers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google dominate the market with a more than 60% share. However, enterprises now require more custom cloud solutions tailored to their region and specific business outcomes.

Enter the neocloud.

Neocloud companies offer specialized Graphics Processing Unit-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) solutions that account for customers’ compliance, latency, and multi-cloud strategies. Critically, the neocloud ensures that enterprises achieve the sovereign cloud, something that traditional hyperscalers fall short on.

According to ABI Research, GPUaaS revenue from neocloud providers is forecast to surpass US$65 billion by 2030, up from US$24 billion in 2024. This demand will have ripple effects across the entire computing value chain, from AI servers to chipsets.

To provide better visibility into this emerging ecosystem, this blog will analyze six of the leading neocloud companies our analyst team is tracking:

• Civo
• CoreWeave
• Crusoe Cloud
• Lambda
• Nebius
• Vultr

Table 1: Comparing Leading Neocloud Companies

(Source: ABI Research)

What Is a Neocloud?

A neocloud is a new generation of cloud infrastructure provider that specializes in High-Performance Computing (HPC) and AI-focused workloads. These companies are emerging as critical players in the cloud computing value chain, addressing gaps left by traditional hyperscalers. Unlike the one-size-fits-all approach of hyperscalers, neocloud providers offer tailored services optimized for specific verticals, regional compliance requirements, and performance-intensive use cases.

What sets neoclouds apart is their agility and specialization. They simplify pricing structures, offer flexible deployment models, and prioritize workload-specific performance, particularly for AI training, inference, and simulation workloads. This has made them attractive partners for hyperscalers, which increasingly seek to integrate neocloud capabilities into their platforms to meet growing demand for specialized compute.

Colocation data center operators like Digital Realty and Aligned Data Centers are also playing a pivotal role, enabling neoclouds to host GPUaas offerings within their facilities. This symbiotic relationship allows neoclouds to scale without the capital intensity of building their own infrastructure from scratch.

What Strategies Are Neocloud Companies Using?

The neocloud landscape is far from monolithic. It is a highly heterogeneous group, with providers pursuing diverse strategies:

1. Building Their Own Data Centers

Some neoclouds are investing heavily in their own infrastructure to gain full-stack control and long-term ownership.

• CoreWeave is a prime example, developing a US$6 billion data center campus in Pennsylvania and expanding its footprint in the United Kingdom with a US$3.4 billion investment. It has also secured major contracts with Meta, OpenAI, and NVIDIA, underscoring its ambition to become a dominant infrastructure player.
• Nscale, backed by NVIDIA, is building sovereign AI data centers in Europe, including the Stargate Norway project targeting 100,000 GPUs by 2026.

2. Leveraging Colocation Facilities

Others are opting for colocation to accelerate time to market and reduce upfront capital expenditure.

• SHARON AI, Australia’s leading neocloud, is partnering with Megaport to connect customers across 1,000+ data centers globally, leveraging existing infrastructure for rapid deployment.
• Sabey Data Centers is actively supporting emerging neoclouds with high-density, GPU-optimized colocation environments, helping them scale without building from scratch.

3. Operating Asset-Light Models

A third category of neoclouds operates without owning physical infrastructure, instead renting GPU capacity from hyperscalers or third-party providers. These firms focus on software differentiation, orchestration, and developer experience.

• Lambda Labs, Crusoe, and Vast.ai exemplify this model, offering fractional GPU rentals and dynamic resource scheduling to optimize cost and performance for AI workloads.
• These providers are particularly attractive to startups and research teams needing flexible, cost-effective access to cutting-edge GPUs without long-term commitments.

Civo

Scale & Efficiency
U.K.-based Civo has data centers in London, Frankfurt, New York, and Bangalore. On the hardware side, Civo runs smaller GPU clusters than some other prominent neocloud providers. But it makes up for it with fast provisioning, thanks to its Kubernetes-first heritage. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) seeking simplicity and cost-effectiveness are key beneficiaries.

Differentiation & Ecosystem Positioning
Civo’s marketing messaging emphasizes affordability and a developer-first culture. Transparent pricing and frequent community events foster a customer-friendly ethos. Civo’s core focus on catering to the developer community is in stark contrast to the typical enterprise focus of most cloud service providers.

Financial and Strategic Resilience
Civo secures funding through Venture Capital (VC), with smaller seeding rounds being common. This ensures that the company minimizes the debt it takes on and can allocate more financial capital toward innovation. In 2021, CEO Mark Boost stated that the company turned down several investors to “freely focus on our roadmap, without any potential distractions or interference that can sometimes be associated with VC money.”

CoreWeave

Scale & Efficiency
In the United States, CoreWeave operates data centers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Illinois, and Georgia. In Europe, locations include the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, and Spain. The company provides dense, liquid-cooled H100/H200 clusters to reduce energy consumption. CoreWeave also has long-term contracts with some of the biggest names in the AI industry, such as OpenAI and Microsoft.

Differentiation & Ecosystem Positioning
NVIDIA is a staple in the data center space, and CoreWeave offers customers early access to the company’s cutting-edge GPUs. Its neocloud portfolio is bolstered by tight coordination with hyperscalers and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). Meanwhile, CoreWeave Ventures helps founders secure capital and devise investment models to accelerate time to impact in the AI space.

Financial and Strategic Resilience
CoreWeave fuels business growth through public listings. The company officially began trading on Nasdaq in late March 2025 and is currently trading at around US$138 to US$139 per share. Long-term contracts with AI juggernauts generate predictable revenue streams for the vendor. Despite CoreWeave’s rapid success in the neocloud market, risks include overreliance on NVIDIA hardware and dependence on a few large customers.

Crusoe Cloud

Scale & Efficiency
Crusoe Cloud hosts a data center in Wyoming and is currently constructing another one in Texas. Other sites are in Iceland and the Nordic region. Crusoe’s neocloud solutions are tied to renewable energy hubs, running energy-optimized H100 and H200 clusters. Its legacy in power-sourcing delivers both efficiency and sustainability for customers.

Differentiation & Ecosystem Positioning
Crusoe stands out from the crowd with an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)-driven business model. By using stranded and renewable energy, Crusoe positions itself as a green alternative for hyperscaler AI services.

Financial and Strategic Resilience
Crusoe diverts its funding to GPU expansion, while renewable energy economics act as a buffer to price volatility. The main risk for the company lies in scaling operations fast enough to meet surging demand for computing resources.

Lambda

Scale & Efficiency
Lambda runs cloud-based GPUaaS across multiple locations in the United States and facilities in other regions. It has one of the broadest GPU fleets in the market, ranging from A100 to B300.

Differentiation & Ecosystem Positioning
Similar to Civo, Lambda is a developer-first brand, uses Kubernetes, and provides transparent pricing. Known for its workstation heritage, Lambda has a pro-practitioner identity. Its leaseback model with NVIDIA ensures GPU availability and scale.

Financial and Strategic Resilience
In February 2025, Lambda raised US$480 million in equity during a Series D round. Between this investment and asset-backed financing, the company is in a strong position to grow. While Lambda’s early Initial Public Offering (IPO) holds potential, it also introduces new financial risks if investment activity fails to meet internal expectations.

Nebius

Scale & Efficiency
Amsterdam-based Nebius operates neocloud services from a variety of global locations, including North America, Europe, and the Middle East. Its GPU range is broad, supporting NVIDIA H100s, H200s, as well as upcoming GB200/300 clusters.

Differentiation & Ecosystem Positioning
Nebius takes a partner-first approach to neocloud services, rather than targeting enterprises directly. It also bridges EU residency requirements with access to U.S. hardware supply.

Financial and Strategic Resilience
Contract-backed debt financing provides Nebius with financial backing without giving up company ownership. Moreover, the US$19 billion deal with Microsoft boosts investor trust. The biggest tests for Nebius on its way to neocloud leadership will be executing data center expansion and staying aligned with GPU upgrade cycles.

Vultr

Scale & Efficiency
Vultr has more than 32 sites across North America, the EU, Asia, and Latin America, providing a global footprint. It supports H100/H200 and AMD Instinct hardware for vendor flexibility. Vultr also excels at providing quick provisioning, enabling enterprises to accelerate scaling and reduce deployment costs.

Differentiation & Ecosystem Positioning
As an independent cloud provider, Vultr competes on price, performance, and flexibility. Its support for multiple GPU vendors helps shield customers from supply chain risks. Vultr also allows customers to access burst capacity features, which enhance the performance of AI workloads.

Financial and Strategic Resilience
Growth financing is key to Vultr’s neocloud expansion strategy, providing a consistent source of project funding. One notable challenge for the company is utilization. It needs to be mindful of the larger cloud providers that could pose a threat in terms of efficiency.

Learn more: Gain a deeper understanding of how neocloud companies are shaking up the AI landscape by downloading ABI Research’s The Future of Cloud Infrastructure: The Impact of Neocloud Providers on the Compute Value Chain.

Related Research:

• Enterprise Demand for Neocloud: Drivers, Adoption Patterns, and Use Case Priorities
• Mapping the Neocloud Market Landscape: Definitions, Technology Characteristics & Business Models
• Neoclouds Aim to Build Commercial Moats by Investing in Software and Managed Services

Frequently Asked Questions

Which companies offer neocloud solutions?

Leading neocloud providers include Civo, CoreWeave, Crusoe Cloud, Lambda, Nebius, and Vultr. These companies specialize in GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and High-Performance Computing (HPC) workloads, offering flexible, regional, and performance-optimized alternatives to traditional hyperscalers.

What is the difference between a hyperscaler and a neocloud company?

Hyperscalers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud deliver large-scale, one-size-fits-all cloud services. Neocloud companies, on the other hand, focus on specialized, AI-driven workloads and provide customized solutions based on regional needs, compliance requirements, and performance goals. They are smaller, more agile, and often partner with hyperscalers to fill niche compute gaps.

What are real-world examples of neocloud use?

Neocloud providers are powering AI training, simulation, and inference workloads across industries. For example, CoreWeave supports OpenAI and Microsoft with large GPU clusters, Crusoe Cloud runs sustainable data centers near renewable energy hubs, and Nebius partners with Microsoft to deliver sovereign cloud infrastructure in Europe. These deployments help enterprises run advanced AI models efficiently and securely.