How to invest in CoreWeave pre-IPO
The hype around AI has spawned a slew of startups in areas ranging from customer analytics to graphics creation to recruitment. It's also prompted some of the largest companies in the world to build out their own AI capabilities.
However, investor excitement in AI isn't limited to companies that directly build AI applications. In fact, one of the most anticipated IPOs of 2025 is CoreWeave, a company closely tied to AI, but which provides the computing resources for other businesses to run AI processes.
While CoreWeave has not publicly announced an IPO date, it's eyeing a valuation of over $35 billion and is expected to hit the public market in 2025. CoreWeave has also engaged investment banks Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan to lead the process.1
For now, though, CoreWeave remains a private company. So, accredited investors who want to buy CoreWeave stock before it goes public may want to look for private market shares on a secondary marketplace like Forge, while unaccredited investors may want to gain indirect exposure through other publicly traded stocks or funds.
Here, we'll take a closer look at how to invest in CoreWeave stock pre-IPO.
CoreWeave: Company background
Despite now being closely tied to AI, CoreWeave has a different origin story. The company began in 2017, originally under the name Atlantic Crypto, because it started as an Ethereum mining company. The company's founders — Michael Intrator, Brian Venturo, and Brannin McBee — have backgrounds in commodities trading.2
Although the company initially had this crypto focus, it started buying graphical processing units (GPUs) and data centers in its initial years, which then put the company in a position to offer advanced computing power as a service to other companies, rather than just enable its own Ethereum mining.3
So, the company transitioned to selling cloud infrastructure services, namely for AI workloads and visual effects (VFX) rendering. This has been fueled in recent years by a partnership with Nvidia, with CoreWeave buying Nvidia GPUs so that it can offer advanced computing power to other companies.4
To some extent, CoreWeave competes with giant cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). However, its focus on AI and VFX has helped it carve out a strong niche. Its revenue has ballooned from $30 million in 2022 to $500 million in 2023, and it reportedly booked nearly $2 billion for 2024, according to VentureBeat.5
Plus, the computing power offered by the major cloud providers isn't necessarily enough to serve the growing needs of AI. Microsoft, for example, signed an agreement with CoreWeave in 2023 that could be worth several billion over several years, so that OpenAI would have enough computing power, rather than only relying on Azure, according to CNBC.6
CoreWeave stock and funding history
While CoreWeave is now reportedly seeking a valuation above $35 billion, that's a fast increase from when it started with a $3 million seed round in 2019 that valued the company at $20 million. The same year, the CoreWeave Series A raised another $2.82 million, bringing the valuation up to $32.74 million.7
CoreWeave's valuation then exploded in 2023, when its Series B raised over $400 million at a $2.4 billion valuation, with investors such as Magnetar Capital and Nvidia participating in the round. This brought CoreWeave's stock price to $111.53, up from $1.00 at its seed round just a few years prior.8
The following year, in 2024, CoreWeave's Series C raised over $1 billion and caused a major jump in valuation to $19 billion. This round, which included investors such as Coatue and Fidelity, also brought the CoreWeave stock price up to $779.05.9
Amidst IPO speculation, CoreWeave's stock price continues to grow. As of early February 2025, CoreWeave's Forge Price™ has reached $1,200, bringing its Forge Price Implied Valuation to $29.27 billion.10 Forge Price is a derived data point that reflects the up-to-date price performance of venture-backed, late-stage companies, and is calculated based on a proprietary model incorporating pricing inputs from primary funding round information, secondary market transactions, and indications of interest (IOIs) on Forge.
How to buy CoreWeave stock
Since CoreWeave is still a private company, its stock is not for sale to the general public. If CoreWeave does conduct an IPO soon, as expected, then its stock would be more readily available.
In the meantime, investment is generally limited to high-net-worth or institutional investors invited to participate in primary funding rounds or strategic investments. Or, if existing investors decide to/are able to list shares for sale on a secondary marketplace like Forge, then accredited investors could potentially buy pre-IPO CoreWeave stock.
Who can invest in CoreWeave pre-IPO?
To invest in CoreWeave pre-IPO, as is typically the case with private companies selling stock, you usually have to be an institutional investor or high-net-worth individual chosen to participate in primary funding rounds or reach an agreement with the company to be a strategic investor. However, sometimes private company shareholders like employees or early investors list pre-IPO stock for sale on a secondary marketplace, such as Forge. In those cases, accredited investors — those who meet certain financial or professional qualifications — could then invest in CoreWeave pre-IPO, if available.
Where to buy pre-IPO CoreWeave stock
For now, as a private company, CoreWeave stock is limited in terms of who can buy shares and where. However, accredited investors may be able to buy CoreWeave stock pre-IPO through a secondary marketplace such as Forge, subject to availability. Yet that is dependent on existing CoreWeave shareholders listing on Forge, so availability can vary, if shares are available at all.
That said, those who are interested in investing in startups such as CoreWeave pre-IPO may wish to create an account with Forge and speak with a Private Market Specialist to stay informed about whether pre-IPO CoreWeave stock or similar shares become available through Forge.
Alternatives for unaccredited investors who want to buy CoreWeave stock
Until CoreWeave conducts an IPO as anticipated, retail investors may not be able to directly buy CoreWeave stock. However, there could be ways for anyone to get indirect exposure.
One potential way to buy something similar to CoreWeave is to invest in Nvidia, which is already a publicly traded company. CoreWeave has close ties to Nvidia, considering that a key aspect of CoreWeave's business is offering access to Nvidia GPUs, and Nvidia is an investor in CoreWeave.11
So, buying Nvidia stock could provide exposure in the sense that if CoreWeave does well, that could benefit Nvidia, such as by boosting the value of Nvidia's ownership stake, along with CoreWeave potentially buying more GPUs from Nvidia. That said, Nvidia's stock performance depends on other factors beyond just CoreWeave's performance.
Another option is to invest in other tech companies that have partnerships or operate in similar spaces, such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet. Like with Nvidia, this only provides partial, indirect exposure. Still, the same trends that could benefit CoreWeave, namely the growth of AI and thus the need for more cloud infrastructure, could benefit these other tech companies, so their stocks could move in similar directions. However, these other companies have much more diversified businesses, so their stock performance can be based on many other factors.
Lastly, investing in other publicly traded cloud computing or AI stocks, such as those of other chipmakers besides Nvidia — or allocating to diversified investment funds in these sectors — could provide a similar directional correlation.
How to analyze CoreWeave stock
For the most part, financial data on private companies like CoreWeave is much more limited than what's available for public companies. Thus, trying to analyze CoreWeave stock in terms of what's a fair valuation can be subjective and difficult.
That said, looking at what's been reported, such as some revenue data, along with the progression of its primary funding rounds, and then comparing CoreWeave's valuation to other startups trading on private marketplaces like Forge could provide some clues.
Looking at the valuations of publicly traded AI and cloud computing companies might provide some guideposts too. However, the valuation approaches of public vs. private companies typically differ based on factors such as liquidity risk and the more limited information available for companies like CoreWeave.
Get started investing in CoreWeave on Forge
If you want to invest in CoreWeave pre-IPO if/when shares become available, create an account with Forge Markets to access our deep marketplace of private market securities.
When you create a free account, you'll be connected with a Forge Private Market Specialist to determine your eligibility, and from there you can potentially buy and sell private market shares in CoreWeave and other startups.
Forge stands out for its transparency into what can otherwise be an opaque private market, and as a publicly traded company itself, Forge provides a regulated, proven way to invest in the private market.
FAQs about investing in CoreWeave
Where do I buy CoreWeave stock?
Investing in CoreWeave pre-IPO is generally limited to those chosen to participate in primary funding rounds, such as investment management firms like Coatue and other companies like Nvidia. However, accredited investors could potentially find pre-IPO CoreWeave stock for sale through a secondary marketplace such as Forge, depending on if existing shareholders list there.
Who can invest in CoreWeave?
Investing in private companies such as CoreWeave is typically limited to institutional investors or accredited investors. Institutional investors and some strategic partners might be able to invest in CoreWeave through agreements with the company, such as during primary funding rounds, while accredited investors can look for private market shares that could potentially be available on a secondary marketplace such as Forge.
Who are CoreWeave's competitors?
Lambda Labs is a primary competitor of CoreWeave in terms of being a startup GPU cloud provider. Other cloud infrastructure providers such as Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and Oracle also compete with CoreWeave to some extent, though these companies generally have much broader businesses, rather than having a niche in AI and VFX.
