Lambda prepares for $4 billion raise before 2027 IPO amid strong demand

Cloud provider Lambda is set to raise up to $4 billion at a $14.5 billion pre-money valuation, potentially marking its final private funding round before a planned 2027 IPO, according to The Wall Street Journal. Coatue Management and Blackstone are leading the investment. A letter to investors reviewed by the Journal revealed Lambda’s backlog surged from $15 billion in June to $50 billion in September, largely driven by a $35 billion commitment from Anthropic, which signed a deal with Lambda in late August. Lambda’s valuation, which has risen significantly since its 2025 funding round, appears heavily dependent on Anthropic’s continued payments. Despite the scarcity of reliable GPU capacity, investors remain willing to back companies with major AI lab contracts. However, Lambda faces challenges in meeting demand due to the high cost of data center expansion, largely funded by debt. Last week, Lambda raised an additional $1 billion, which will influence its IPO pricing and provide more capital before public market scrutiny. If Lambda proceeds with its IPO, it will join other Nvidia-backed neoclouds like CoreWeave and Nebius, which rely on stock performance to fund data center buildouts. British neocloud Nscale filed for an IPO last month and is expected to begin trading soon. Lambda, Coatue, and Blackstone did not immediately respond to a request for comment.