Starcloud Lands $250M at $2.3B Valuation; NVIDIA and Cisco Join Round
CSCO sits 68% above its 52-week low of $66.13 on light trading volume (0.2× avg).
Summary
Starcloud, an orbital data center startup, raised $250 million at a $2.3 billion valuation. The round was led by Manhattan West and included new investors NVIDIA and Cisco Investments, alongside existing backers Benchmark, EQT, Soma, NFX, and 776. For Cisco, this is a strategic bet on space-based AI infrastructure, aligning with its recent AI-driven growth narrative. The investment is modest relative to Cisco's $437 billion market cap, but it signals direct exposure to a high-growth niche. Cisco's fiscal 2027 guidance of $72.2–73.4 billion, issued last week, already reflects strong AI demand; this deal adds another layer to that story.
At the time of this announcement, CSCO was trading at $110.82 on NASDAQ in the Technology sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $436.8B. The 52-week trading range was $66.13 to $130.37. This news item was assessed with positive market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: Reuters.