Nebius leverages Microsoft, Meta contracts for AI expansion 

By Toby Sterling and Lucy Raitano

AMSTERDAM/LONDON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Netherlands-based data centre operator Nebius will leverage recent multi-billion dollar contracts with Microsoft and Meta to build its business with traditional firms and emerging AI companies that could be future tech titans, its co-founder said.

A $17 billion deal with Microsoft in September and another $3 billion tie-up with Meta have helped propel the company's Nasdaq-listed stock 248% higher this year, pushing its market capitalisation past $25 billion.

The firm is now widening its client base - especially given fears an AI bubble is already underway.

"We are very bullish," Roman Chernin told Reuters in an interview, adding that ebbs are natural during a technological revolution but the market for supplying companies with access to AI infrastructure could grow ten- or even a hundred-fold, as firms are only beginning to use AI models that are themselves undergoing rapid advances.

As a smaller player in the booming sector, the firm is preparing for harder times by developing high-margin services and long-term relationships. 

"We should be ready (for when) the winter will come," Chernin said, adding Nebius would then act as a consolidator.

EUROPE'S BIGGEST NEOCLOUD FIRM 

Legacy enterprises are just beginning to tap Nebius' services, spanning sectors like manufacturing, retail and banking  - with pharmaceutical firms and financial institutions like hedge funds moving faster, Chernin said.

Nebius, which has a partnership with Nvidia, is Europe's biggest 'neocloud' firm, offering access to the powerful but expensive graphics processing units (GPUs) needed for AI.

It also offers the software needed to use them effectively and to run specialized AI applications, putting it in competition with both traditional data centre operators and U.S. "hyperscalers" like Amazon and Google.

Nebius' top market by revenue and installed capacity is the United States, but it also has data centres in Europe, including in Britain, Iceland, Finland and France. It plans to secure 2.5 gigawatts of contracted power for facilities across both regions by the end of 2026, reflecting customer demand.

Capacity sold to European "neocloud" providers rose 211% to 414 megawatts in the first nine months of 2025 from a year earlier, according to real estate services firm CBRE.

MARGIN NOT REVENUE

Chernin said Nebius prioritised margins, not revenue, when negotiating hyperscaler deals.

"We are thinking about it as a system, so we signed those (large) deals having in mind that we need to finance the rest," he said.

Following the Microsoft deal, Nebius raised $4.2 billion through a public share offering and sale of convertible notes.

Nebius' early client base included AI natives like French model-maker Mistral, U.S. coding specialist Cursor, and German visual AI firm Black Forest - companies poised to become a new generation of large firms, Chernin said.

The company's growth in 2026 will come from existing digital firms that are early AI adopters, such as customers Shopify, Prosus, and ServiceNow, that have always relied on U.S. cloud services but see advantages in Nebius's specialised AI offerings, validating the company's model, he added.

Beyond 2027, the company hopes to supply services to mainstream companies, which Chernin said would do more for European sovereignty than attracting investments in large data centres by U.S. firms.

"Where will Siemens and BMW go when they will need to adopt AI on a large scale?" he said.

"The North Star ambition of Nebius is to exist and be relevant for that market."

(Reporting by Toby Sterling and Lucy Raitano; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)