Crusoe Energy, a data center startup, has secured a $500 million equity investment led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund to expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure.

What Happened: The investment round values Crusoe at approximately $3 billion, more than double its valuation two years ago, reported the Financial Times on Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the deal.

The company, founded by Chase Lochmiller and Cully Cavness in 2018, is among the fast-growing "neocloud" industry that provides outsourced cloud computing for other tech companies to build AI.

The neocloud industry has been attracting significant financial backing from Silicon Valley and Wall Street investors to fund the acquisition of NVIDIA Corp's (NASDAQ:NVDA) powerful AI chips. Crusoe's investment round coincides with its recent $3.4 billion deal with Blue Owl Capital to finance the construction of a new data center in Texas, which will be leased to Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL).

Crusoe Energy supports sustainability by using waste natural gas from oilfields to power its data centers, helping to cut greenhouse gas emissions while fueling AI and cloud computing.

Crusoe Energy did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment.

Why It Matters: Thiel, a prominent figure in the tech and investment world, has been actively involved in the cryptocurrency and AI sectors. His Founders Fund has made significant investments in these areas, including a $200 million investment in Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) in 2023.

Thiel has also been vocal about his skepticism regarding Bitcoin's future growth, expressing doubts about significant price growth and expressing regret for not purchasing more of the cryptocurrency.

Despite this, his Founders Fund has continued to make bold moves in the crypto market, signifying a renewed interest in token investments among institutional investors.