Cloud provider Lambda is seeking to raise up to $4 billion at a $14.5 billion pre-money valuation, in what could be its final private financing round before a targeted 2027 initial public offering (IPO), according to The Wall Street Journal. Coatue Management and Blackstone are leading the round.
Backlog jump driven by a single large contract
A letter to investors reviewed by the Journal shows Lambda’s backlog grew from $15 billion in June to $50 billion in September. Much of that increase appears to stem from a single $35 billion commitment by Anthropic, which signed an agreement with Lambda in late August. As a result, Lambda’s rising valuation since its 2025 funding round may be heavily dependent on Anthropic’s continued payments and the long-term performance of that contract.
Why this matters
Reliable GPU capacity remains scarce for running large AI models, so investors remain willing to finance companies that can supply it, particularly those holding substantial contracts with major AI labs. For neocloud operators like Lambda, the challenge is less demand than the cost of meeting it. Data center expansions are typically financed with debt, and Lambda recently secured an additional $1 billion in debt financing.
At the same time, lenders are becoming more selective about which companies they fund and on what terms. By raising more capital now, Lambda is not only shaping the expectations for its eventual IPO pricing but also adding liquidity before facing the scrutiny of public markets.
Market context and peers
If and when Lambda goes public — the company was reportedly planning to debut this year but delayed amid market uncertainty — it would join other Nvidia-backed neoclouds such as CoreWeave and Nebius that now rely on their stock performance to help fund data center build-outs. British neocloud Nscale filed for an IPO last month and is expected to begin trading soon.
Lambda, Coatue Management and Blackstone did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
