Apollo Backs AI Hardware Startups to Win Infrastructure Fina…
Apollo Global Management is investing in startups focused on artificial intelligence and the related hardware and plans to lend them money in the future, The Information reported Wednesday (Sept. 16), citing unnamed sources.
Examples include Apollo’s investments in chip startup SiFive and AI-powered factory developer Hadrian, according to the report.
Apollo plans to make more investments in these categories to tap into the AI boom and the demand for financing for chips, data centers and other hardware to run and train AI. The company aims to make equity investments and to provide debt- or asset-backed financing and other types of financing, the report said.
Apollo Global Management did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.
The Information reported Aug. 5 that Apollo named a new leader, partner Reed Rayman, to head the company’s chip-focused efforts.
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The report said this appointment was part of a larger strategy to capture more digital infrastructure deals and link them with investment teams across Apollo, with Rayman concentrating on developing relationships to help Apollo oversee the financing of more big and complex AI infrastructure projects.
Apollo already had a large team working on AI-centric deals, with around 60 employees focused on digital infrastructure. Rayman is focused on sourcing deals supported by semiconductors and their lease payments, rather than financing other aspects of AI infrastructure, the August report said.
Hadrian announced in August that funds managed by Apollo were among the participants in a Series D round in which it raised $1.37 billion to accelerate its buildout of highly automated factories in America.
Nvidia said in August that Apollo was one of the six financial institutions with which it partnered to establish independent compute platforms designed to mobilize over $500 billion of third-party capital for the buildout of AI infrastructure.
Apollo President Jim Zelter said in a post on X that the partnership “provides a strong foundation to support the next stage of the AI buildout as part of the broader Global Industrial Renaissance.”
SiFive announced in April that Apollo was among the investors in a Series G round in which it raised $400 million. SiFive said the new financing would accelerate its data center roadmap.
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