[Edaily Marketin, Reporter YunJi Kim ] A Swiss startup that leases artificial intelligence (AI) servers to businesses has raised approximately 25 billion won. This is an unusual amount of funding for an early-stage company, which typically requires considerable time to prove its product and generate revenue. As the generative AI boom spreads beyond software to a race to secure servers and data centers, investment capital is flooding not only into companies developing AI but also into businesses supplying the equipment needed to run it.

According to local industry sources on the 1st, Switzerland’s AI Infrastructure Capital recently completed a funding round worth 16 million euros (approximately 26.3 billion won). Founded last June, the company secured substantial funding at the launch stage without a track record of long-term business performance.

Typically, it is not easy for a newly established startup to attract large sums of money based solely on an idea. This is because investors evaluate not only the business plan but also the potential for actual products, customers, and revenue generation. Initial investment amounts generally range from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. According to Carta, a startup equity management platform, the amount of investment raised by pre-seed stage startups in 2025 was generally between $250,000 and $2.5 million. The company valuations assessed by investors also mostly ranged from $10 million to $15 million. The amount of investment secured by AI Infrastructure Capital far exceeds the typical scale of early-stage funding.

Behind AI Infrastructure Capital’s ability to secure substantial funding from its inception lies a unique business structure. The company adopted a model in which it purchases AI servers directly and leases them to corporate clients on a long-term basis to secure stable revenue. This structure is similar to how airlines lease aircraft from leasing companies rather than purchasing expensive planes outright. Corporate clients secure the computing power they need without making a large upfront investment, while the company generates steady rental revenue through long-term contracts. What caught investors’ attention was the company’s ability to convert the surging demand for AI servers into long-term rental revenue.

Investors also took note of the company’s founding team. From its inception, AI Infrastructure Capital assembled a founding team with experience in server operations and hardware procurement, and had already secured long-term leases for the server capacity it planned to build. It is believed that the team’s track record and confirmed customer demand enabled the company to raise a substantial amount of capital shortly after its establishment.

That said, there are risks involved. The pace of technological change in AI semiconductors is faster than in industries such as aviation or real estate, meaning the value of high-priced equipment can depreciate rapidly. The company’s profitability will likely hinge on how many stable, long-term customers it can secure before its equipment becomes obsolete.

Cédric Waldburger, co-founder of AI Infrastructure Capital, said, “AI is often discussed as an abstract technology, but underlying it is the concrete issue of whether sufficient servers are deployed in the right locations,” adding, “We will play a role in increasing the number of servers needed by the market.”