Auradine, the California-based bitcoin miner manufacturer, just snagged $153 million in Series C funding. That’s a decent chunk of change, even in this business. But here’s the twist: they’re not just building better bitcoin diggers anymore. They’re diving headfirst into the AI infrastructure game, too. It’s like a miner deciding they also want to be a data center landlord. Makes you wonder if they’re hedging their bets, doesn’t it?
- Auradine, a bitcoin miner manufacturer, has secured $153 million in Series C funding to expand into AI infrastructure. This move positions them as a competitor in the AI data center market.
- Founded in 2022, Auradine is the only U.S. company building bitcoin miners from scratch, challenging Chinese dominance and powering major data centers. They are generating significant revenue.
- Auradine is leveraging the synergies between bitcoin mining and AI, particularly in silicon, cooling, and energy management, to create their AuraLinks AI division. They are also EBITDA-positive.
The round was a bit of an oversubscription, actually. They aimed for $125 million and ended up with $153 million – $138 million in equity and $15 million in venture debt. StepStone Group led the charge, with a whole crew of investors jumping in: Maverick Silicon, Premji Invest, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Qualcomm Ventures, Mayfield, MARA Holdings, and GSBackers, among others. Over 22% oversubscribed. That’s a good problem to have, I suppose. It suggests people believe in what Auradine is doing, or at least, believe in the potential for profit.
Building Beyond Bitcoin
Auradine isn’t exactly a household name, but they’re making waves in a niche corner of the crypto world. Founded in 2022, they’re the only U.S. firm building bitcoin miners from scratch, a direct challenge to the dominance of Chinese manufacturers. They claim their Teraflux machines are powering over 40 major data centers, including Marathon Digital. That’s not bad for a relatively young company. They’re currently running at an annualized revenue of over $150 million, and the orders keep coming. Seems like people need to mine bitcoin, after all.
But the real story here is AuraLinks AI, their new AI infrastructure division. They’re building networking fabrics – the tech that moves data around inside AI data centers. Think of it as the plumbing for artificial intelligence. “The vision is to develop breakthrough open data center networking solutions for the AI era,” says CEO Rajiv Khemani. Sounds ambitious. They’ve already spun out an AI cybersecurity startup, Aurascape AI, which seems to be doing well on its own. It’s a busy place over at Auradine. They’re currently at over 100 employees and plan to add more, especially on the engineering side. More engineers mean more building, which, in turn, means more potential for…well, more everything.
Khemani also points out a neat synergy between bitcoin mining and AI. Both need cutting-edge silicon, thermal cooling, and energy management. It’s not a completely different world, apparently. They can leverage their expertise in one area to benefit the other. Smart move. It’s like realizing your hammer can also be used to tighten screws. Why buy another tool when you already have one that works?
Auradine expects to be EBITDA-positive within the next few quarters. EBITDA, for those not in the know, is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Basically, it’s a measure of how profitable they are. Being EBITDA-positive is a good sign. It means they’re making more money than they’re spending, at least before you factor in all the accounting stuff. They’ve raised over $300 million in total funding now. That’s a lot of capital. What they do with it will be interesting to watch.
