REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 30, 2026--
Starcloud, the company building data centers in space, today announced it has raised a $170 million Series A, at a $1.1 billion valuation. Achieving unicorn status just 17 months after its Y Combinator demo day, Starcloud is now the fastest unicorn in Y Combinator history. The round is also more than double the size of the next largest YC Series A, and brings the company’s total capital raised to $200 million.
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As artificial intelligence drives unprecedented demand for computing power, terrestrial infrastructure is struggling to keep pace. Permitting and building new data centers and energy projects on Earth can take up to five years. Starcloud is bypassing these terrestrial constraints by building data centers in low Earth orbit where they have access to virtually unlimited, low-cost solar energy.
"The AI revolution is colliding with the physical limits of our terrestrial energy grid. We are quickly running out of places to build new energy projects for data centers on Earth. By moving AI compute to space, we unlock access to unlimited solar power and completely remove the energy bottleneck. This funding allows us to rapidly scale our orbital infrastructure and meet the massive commercial demand for sustainable AI compute."
-Philip Johnston, Co-Founder and CEO of Starcloud
Starcloud has demonstrated a pace of execution previously unseen in the aerospace or tech industries. With just $3 million in pre-seed funding, the company designed, built, and launched its first satellite, Starcloud-1, in a record 21 months. Launched in November 2025, the mission achieved several historic industry firsts:
As part of the financing, Benchmark General Partner and six-time Midas lister, Chetan Puttagunta, will join the board of Starcloud.
“We believe that we are in the early innings of a decades-long buildout of AI infrastructure,” said Puttagunta. “Starcloud is pioneering a solution to the challenges of scaling AI infrastructure on Earth with orbital data centers. Their extraordinary engineering team has achieved significant technical breakthroughs in power and cooling, as well as innovative advancements in manufacturing processes. Most notably, the great team at Starcloud has reached these milestones while remaining exceptionally capital efficient. We believe their technical rigor and remarkable ambitions will enable them to achieve extraordinary scale.”
The new capital will accelerate the design and build of the company's next-generation Starcloud-3 satellites, the establishment of a dedicated manufacturing facility, critical headcount expansion, and the procurement of future launch contracts.
Later this year, the company will launch Starcloud-2. This satellite will feature the largest commercial deployable radiator ever sent to space and generate 100x the power generation of Starcloud-1. Starcloud-2 will be the company's first satellite to run commercial edge and cloud workloads for customers, including early customer Crusoe, alongside partnerships with AWS, Google Cloud, and NVIDIA.
The round was split into two tranches, with an initial round led by Benchmark with participation from EQT, and an extension round co-led by both investors. EQT is the world's second-largest private equity fund, with over $100bn in assets under management, and the owner of more than 70 data centers. Benchmark is the world's most successful long-running venture capital fund by returns.
The heavily oversubscribed round also saw participation from major global funds and strategic partners, including the world's largest infrastructure fund, Macquarie Capital ($500bn AUM), NFX, Nebular, Y Combinator, Adjacent, 776 Ventures, Fuse Ventures, Manhattan West, and Monolith Power Systems. Prominent angel investors joining the round include Gen. Stephen Wilson, former Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, and former Starbucks CEO and Goldman Sachs board member Kevin Johnson.
For more information, visit www.starcloud.com.
About Starcloud: Starcloud is building data centers in space to solve the AI energy bottleneck. Starcloud launched its first satellite, Starcloud-1, in November 2025. It featured the first NVIDIA H100 on board, which is approximately 100x more powerful GPU compute than has been on orbit before and was the first to train an AI model in space. Founded in 2024, Starcloud is headquartered at 2517 152nd Ave NE, Redmond, WA 98052.
Starcloud satellites in space.
ROME (AP) — If Italy is going to qualify for its first World Cup in 12 years, the Azzurri’s defenders are going to have to contain a striker they respect and know well.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s 40-year-old forward Edin Dzeko has been a club teammate of all three of Italy’s starting defenders.
Dzeko played with Gianluca Mancini and Riccardo Calafiori while he was at Roma from 2015-21. Having then moved to Inter Milan, Dzeko teamed with Alessandro Bastoni on the squad that reached the 2023 Champions League final.
Italy and Inter winger Federico Dimarco contacted Dzeko to congratulate him after Bosnia beat Wales in a penalty shootout last week to set up Tuesday’s playoff final against the four-time World Cup champion.
Dzeko's headed equalizer in the second half against Wales was his 73rd international goal. At 6-foot-4 (1.93 meters), Dzeko excels in the air — where Italy's defenders often struggle.
“Edin is a great player and a great person,” Dimarco said. “I saw him on vacation over the summer and I’ve maintained a nice relationship with him.”
Dimarco will have to momentarily set aside the relationship, though, with Italy desperate to avoid missing out on a third consecutive World Cup.
Italy was eliminated by Sweden and North Macedonia, respectively, in qualifying playoffs for the last two World Cups.
In last week's European playoff semifinals, Italy beat Northern Ireland 2-0.
Tuesdays’ other playoff finals are: Sweden vs. Poland; Turkey vs. Kosovo; and Denmark vs. the Czech Republic.
Bosnia has chosen to host the playoff in the 14,000-seat Bilino Polje Stadium in Zenica, which is surrounded by apartment towers overlooking the field.
The stadium’s capacity will be reduced by 20% following punishment from FIFA for discriminatory and racist abuse by fans during Bosnia’s game against Romania in November.
Italy is concerned over the status of the stadium’s pitch after a recent snowfall in Bosnia.
“We’re expecting a difficult atmosphere,” Dimarco said. “But if we’re able to remain in the right frame of mind for 95 minutes, I think we can get the result.”
Bosnia has seized upon video footage of Italy’s players celebrating after seeing the victory over Wales — as if they considered Bosnia an easier opponent than Wales.
“It was an instinctive reaction,” Dimarco said. “I certainly did not disrespect either Bosnia or Bosnians.”
The referee for the match in Bosnia will be Clement Turpin of France, who was also in charge when Italy was beaten 1-0 at home by North Macedonia in the playoff semifinals four years ago.
Dimarco has been a consistent force on the left wing for Serie A leader Inter this season with six goals and 15 assists.
The only World Cup he’s played in was the Under-20 version in 2017 when Italy finished third with Dimarco scoring in the quarterfinals.
“I’ve always said that goals and assists don’t interest me unless they help the team achieve results,” Dimarco said.
Italy’s attack got a boost in the second half against Northern Ireland when Pio Esposito replaced Mateo Retegui. Now the 20-year-old Esposito could start in Retegui’s place alongside Moise Kean in Bosnia
Dimarco also plays with Esposito at Inter.
“He’s a special kid,” Dimarco said. “He’s mature for his age and always gives 100% — both in matches and in training. … He just needs to be left alone and we shouldn’t put too much pressure on him.”
The pressure is on Italy since an entire generation — basically anyone under 15 — has no memory of the last time the Azzurri played in the World Cup — an elimination loss to Uruguay in 2014 in Brazil mostly remembered for Luis Suarez’s bite of Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder.
Just ask right winger Matteo Politano, who has won two Italian league titles at Napoli but at 32 has still never played in a World Cup.
“We all know what we’re playing for,” Politano said. “For me, and for a few of the other senior players, it’s probably our last chance.”
This story has been corrected to show that Bosnia's stadium capacity punishment was handed out by FIFA, not UEFA.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Italy's Matteo Politano, bottom, and Northern Ireland's Brodie Spencer vie for the ball during the World Cup qualifying play-off soccer match between Italy and Northern Ireland, in Bergamo, Italy, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Italy's Moise Kean, left, and teammate Francesco Pio Esposito, right, celebrate after Kean scored his side's second goal during the World Cup qualifying play-off soccer match between Italy and Northern Ireland, in Bergamo, Italy, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Bosnia and Herzegovina's Edin Dzeko, left, celebrates with team-mates after scoring their side's first goal during the World Cup playoff semifinal soccer match between Wales and Bosnia and Herzegovina in Cardiff, Wales, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)
Italy's Federico Dimarco, right, celebrates with teammate Sandro Tonali who scored his side's first goal during the World Cup qualifying play-off soccer match between Italy and Northern Ireland, in Bergamo, Italy, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Bosnia and Herzegovina's Edin Dzeko, top right, scores their side's first goal during the World Cup playoff semifinal soccer match between Wales and Bosnia and Herzegovina in Cardiff, Wales, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)
