Baiju Bhatt, the guy who helped democratize stock trading with Robinhood, now wants to put data centers in space. His startup Cowboy Space just raised $275M in Series B funding at a $2B valuation, with plans to build solar-powered compute infrastructure in orbit to feed the insatiable appetite of AI.
The company was previously known as Aetherflux before rebranding. The pivot is more than cosmetic: Cowboy Space shifted from terrestrial energy solutions to full-on orbital data centers, betting that Earth simply can’t keep up with AI’s power demands.
From fintech to the final frontier
The Series B round was led by Index Ventures, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), IVP, Blossom Capital, SAIC, and Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
Jan Hammer, a partner at Index Ventures, has praised Bhatt’s approach, suggesting that space represents a significant and largely untapped market opportunity. The thesis is straightforward: AI models are getting bigger, training runs are getting longer, and the energy required to power all of it is growing faster than the grid can handle.
Cowboy Space’s answer is to move the problem off-planet entirely. In orbit, solar energy is abundant, uninterrupted by weather or nighttime, and doesn’t compete with residential power needs. Each rocket upper stage is designed to generate 1 megawatt of power and function as a standalone data center.
The timeline and the tech
The company has laid out a two-phase plan. First, a satellite demonstrating power-beaming technology is scheduled for launch by the end of 2025. Then, the first fully operational orbital data center is expected to come online in Q1 2027.
The core technical concept involves repurposing the upper stage of a rocket as the structural housing for a data center. Solar panels attached to the stage would collect energy continuously in orbit, powering GPU clusters designed for AI workloads.
Collaborations with NVIDIA are anticipated to enhance the operational capabilities of these orbital facilities.
The founding date of 2024 under the Aetherflux name means Cowboy Space is barely two years old. Raising $275M at a $2B valuation in that timeframe puts it in rare company among space startups.
What this means for investors
Cowboy Space itself has no direct cryptocurrency integrations. But a16z, one of the round’s participants, is one of the largest and most active crypto venture firms in the world. Bhatt’s own background includes overseeing crypto trading services at Robinhood, which became one of the most popular retail platforms for buying and selling digital assets.
Breakthrough Energy Ventures’ involvement, the climate-focused fund backed by Bill Gates, adds another dimension, suggesting that the renewable energy angle is being taken seriously by investors who specialize in evaluating clean energy claims.
For anyone tracking the convergence of AI infrastructure and alternative compute solutions, Cowboy Space’s Q1 2027 deployment target is the date to circle.
