Congratulations to the entire team at the Oxide Computer Company, led by Steve Tuck and Bryan Cantrill, on their monumental $445M Series D fundraise. The Series D represents a new phase of growth capital for Oxide, to continue providing next generation on-premise cloud computing infrastructure to corporations and enterprises around the world.

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Our first check into Oxide was back in September of 2022 at the Series A. Back then the thesis was centered around a neglect for on-premise compute development which mistakenly presented itself as the antithesis to the rapid rise of cloud computing. While cloud propagated through web and mobile, on-prem never had its "Ah-Ha" moment and that was partly due to investor disdain for hardware companies.

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Oxide was misunderstood time and time again by VCs in the SF Bay Area. Investors saw cloud computing growth and thought on-premise would shrink as a result - mistakenly thinking the two were correlated against one another. While cloud notable had its rapid rise, on-prem flattened which gave off this misperception that plagued investors. The challenges of building a hardware computing startup in 2019 when Oxide first started were no easier when Counterpart first invested in 2022.

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And this was even before the AI revolution began its trajectory - predating companies like Anthropic and OpenAI. Now, Oxide is powering the AI revolution installing their rack-scale sled-design computers into next-gen data centers, national laboratories and major corporations around the world. The relentless perseverance of cofounders Steve Tuck and Bryan Cantrill is where all credit is due. A belief in their vision from Day #1 and an unwillingness to let this vision dissipate has been their foundation for success.

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We're excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for Oxide following their growth financing. We predict the next wave Oxide will ride is sovereign AI as data sovereignty and owning the entire AI stack become essential across critical industries. We believe Oxide are so perfectly positioned to capture the demand for private on-prem cloud computing as AI models become deviate away from open-source.

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Steve and Bryan at Counter VII

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It was a thrill it was to host Steve and Bryan last week at Counter VII, Counterpart's annual CVC conference in San Francisco. This year across 30+ events we saw 1500+ corporate VCs descend on San Francisco for CVC Week, the biggest week-long program of CVC events.

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The centerpiece of the week was Counter VII. Steve and Bryan took to the stage to revisit the Series A financing where our journey began, recollecting just how tough it was to close the almost $50M round at a time when VCs ran for the hills when it came to hardware startups. While some VCs deserted Oxide and others demonstrated why VCs often carry a bad reputation, Counterpart Ventures stepped in to provide the essential fundraising that took the company across a vital threshold. Steve and Bryan recounted this event and expressed their gratitude to team Counterpart for our display of trust and confidence.

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To give you perspective - we need to go back to 2022 when we were at the height of SaaS and SaaS was the moat. Everything was going to the public cloud and the idea of on-premise IT and data centers was not only contrarian but it was foolish. Every VC asked us: so why do you have to do the hardware? - Steve Tuck, CEO, Oxide Computer.

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Ignoring the VC Sheep

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Its 2022 and almost all VCs will tell you they don't invest hardware and they are pure B2B SaaS investors. This mentality was sheep-mentality and created an overpopulation of enterprise software companies many of which are now caught in what is commonly referred to as the SaaSpocalypse. Fast forward to 2026 where software is ubiquitous and anyone with a Claude Pro or ChatGPT Plus account can build a rudiementary software application - these same VCs are eagerly looking at hardware startups as the next fund-returners. While software was the moat back then, hardware is the moat now.

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We could almost watch VCs sit in the quantum superposition of fear and greed as they looked at Oxide. They could see both outcomes at once: a big company or a complete zero. And early on we did get that question: what is your exit strategy? And I said: no exit strategy - big generational company. To which the VC said: Oh ok that's great... but just so you know I am a venture capitalist and I operate a fund that has limited length so you kind of need an exit for me. So I think what you're looking for is an IPO. So I said - got it sounds great, we want an IPO then. - Bryan Cantrill, CTO, Oxide Computer.

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Back in 2022 when we first invested - our analysis for success was predicated on this being a fund-returner and entering the multi-$B valuation zone. We firmly believed the business was uniquely positioned to enter this valuation territory but also to define and reinvent a stale category. The AI revolution expedited our thesis in a manner of years and demonstrated the importance of on-prem to the AI industry. If we had taken the safe and uniform path of strictly investing in enterprise B2B SaaS then we would have been like every other sheep VC. Instead, our contrarian bet on Oxide has been a wonderful investment to-date and we look forward to everything that comes next.

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Excited to share today's news of the $445M Series D and congratulations to Steve, Bryan and the entire team at the Oxide Computer Company.

Read the official Press Release here.

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Our $445M Series D

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As they have so many times for us over the seven years of the company, Eclipse stood up to lead, and our $445M Series D quickly came together. Existing investors USIT, Riot Ventures, and Jane Street signed up for big pieces — and others on the cap table including Friends and Family Capital and Counterpart eagerly joined in.

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We are deeply appreciative of the support of these existing investors, but we also wanted to add new investors to the company. While there was a lot of outside interest (profitability being the ultimate VC aphrodisiac!), there was one firm that stood above the rest: Atreides Management, which first got to know us nearly two years ago and has stayed close to the company ever since. We love their analytical approach, their courage in hard-tech investing — and their belief in Oxide.

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Finally, we are thrilled to welcome AMD as a new strategic investor. AMD has long been a believer in Oxide: it was with their support that we were able to achieve breakthroughs like our own platform enablement software. And of course, we have been big believers in AMD: one of our first big bets was on AMD EPYC. We think the partnership between AMD and Oxide is a lasting one, and it’s fitting to have that expressed in the cap table.

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All of these investors are — like us — in it for the long haul. When we raised our $200M Series C, we said that it was to entirely de-risk the company with respect to capital, to assure both our longevity and our independence. This Series D builds on that assurance to allow us to satisfy our substantial backlog while continuing to accept new demand, expand manufacturing capacity, and invest for the enduring company that we have always set out to build.

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To our investors, partners, fans, long-time listeners, employees, and most of all customers: thank you. While this is but a milestone on the long road to what we know Oxide will be, it is nonetheless an exhilarating one!

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