Finance a GPU cluster.
Lenders finance GPU clusters the way they finance any equipment with a customer behind it: they read the contract, the customer, your cash in the deal, and the quotes. Answer what you have. We show how a lender will read the project, which kinds of financing fit it, what they will ask for next, and who lends on projects like it.
Example answers: a two-year-old GPU operator buying about $20M of servers for a large customer on a signed three-year contract. Change any answer.
Step 5 of 5
Talk to us about the project
Send your answers with the company’s name and site. We reply with the financing that fits first and the lenders we would introduce you to.
Example answers · updates as you answer
Ready for term sheets
A lender would read this as a financeable project. Approach several in the same week.
85 / 100
How the score is built
- Customer contract × 0.22
- 100
- Customer’s ability to pay × 0.18
- 80
- Contract length × 0.10
- 100
- Your cash in the deal × 0.20
- 75
- Track record × 0.10
- 65
- Financial statements × 0.05
- 50
- Hardware and data-center quotes × 0.10
- 100
- Operating cash × 0.05
- 100
What a lender will ask for next
- Financial statements, audited if you can. Equipment lessors often ask for two years in business and audited accounts.
Financing that fits
1A term loan against the cluster and the contract95
The lender advances part of the cost, secured by the servers, the contract and what it pays, and is repaid over the contract’s term.
- +25Signed customer contract
- +530 to 50 percent of the cost in cash
- +5A large, well-funded customer
2A fixed-terms program for smaller clusters90
Some arrangers run programs with their lending partners for orders under about $20M: fixed criteria, standard documents, and a term sheet within days.
- +20A customer lined up
- +1530 to 50 percent of the cost in cash
- +5Hardware quote in hand
- +5Data-center quote in hand
3An operating lease70
A lessor buys the servers and rents them to you. It asks for less cash up front than a loan; at the end you return them, extend, or buy them at market value.
- +530 to 50 percent of the cost in cash
- −5Lessors look for two years or more in business
- +10Signed customer contract
- +5A long contract: you may prefer to hand back older hardware
All 8 kinds of financing
4A bridge to installation65
A lender pays for the hardware order for 90 to 120 days, until the main lender takes over once the cluster is installed and the customer is paying.
- +25Signed customer contract
- +10Hardware quote in hand
5Mezzanine debt in place of some of your cash55
A second lender funds part of what would be your cash in the deal, at a higher rate and sometimes for warrants. Convertible notes and warrants are securities, placed only through a registered broker-dealer.
- +10Fills a gap in your cash
- +15Signed customer contract
6Onchain credit against the GPUs55
Crypto-native lenders fund GPU purchases against the hardware and its revenue, often for operators earlier than banks will see.
- +10Signed customer contract
7Digital-infrastructure debt25
The funds and banks that finance towers and data centers lend on large projects with strong customers and operators with a record.
- −25Smaller than these lenders take
- +10A large, well-funded customer
- +15Signed customer contract
8Asset-backed securities20
At large scale, contracts and hardware are pooled into rated notes sold to investors. The notes are securities, placed only through a registered broker-dealer.
- +15Signed customer contract
Who lends on projects like this
Silicon Valley Bank (a division of First Citizens Bank)Bank
Lent to Lambda; last deal Jul 2021
Hydra Capital (Hydra Host)Small-cluster program · arranges; its lenders decide
American ComputeSmall-cluster program · arranges; its lenders decide
Arrow Capital Solutions (Arrow Electronics)Small-cluster program
Post Road Equipment FinanceEquipment lessor
Last deal Sep 2026, borrower not disclosed
32 more
Tech Finance Co. (TFC), Kingsbridge Holdings / SLR Investment Corp. platformEquipment lessor
Lent to QumulusAI; last deal May 2026
Data SalesEquipment lessor
Lent to Ori Industries; last deal Apr 2026
Forum Markets (Nasdaq: FRMM)Bridge lender
Last deal Apr 2026, borrower not disclosed
USD.AIOnchain lender
JPMorgan ChaseBank · usually larger deals
Lent to Lambda, Hut 8, CoreWeave and 1 more; last deal Oct 2026
Goldman SachsBank · usually larger deals
Lent to Hut 8, Nscale, Applied Digital and 1 more; last deal Sep 2026
Morgan StanleyBank · usually larger deals
Lent to Hut 8, Lambda, CoreWeave and 2 more; last deal Sep 2026
MUFGBank · usually larger deals
Lent to CoreWeave, Lambda, Nscale; last deal Aug 2026
Blue OwlPrivate credit · usually larger deals
Lent to IREN; last deal Aug 2026
Citizens BankBank · usually larger deals
Lent to Lambda; last deal Aug 2026
Crédit AgricoleBank · usually larger deals
Lent to Lambda; last deal Aug 2026
Wells FargoBank · usually larger deals
Lent to Lambda; last deal Aug 2026
Macquarie GroupBank · usually larger deals
Lent to Nscale, Applied Digital, Lambda; last deal Jul 2026
ApolloPrivate credit · usually larger deals
Lent to Valor Compute Infrastructure (xAI); last deal Jan 2026
Victory Park CapitalPrivate credit · usually larger deals
Lent to Crusoe; last deal Aug 2025
BrookfieldPrivate credit · usually larger deals
Lent to Crusoe; last deal Jun 2025
Future StandardPrivate credit · usually larger deals
Lent to Crusoe; last deal Mar 2025
King Street Capital ManagementPrivate credit · usually larger deals
Lent to Crusoe; last deal Mar 2025
Liberty Mutual InvestmentsPrivate credit · usually larger deals
Lent to Crusoe; last deal Mar 2025
ORIX USAPrivate credit · usually larger deals
Lent to Crusoe; last deal Mar 2025
Upper90Private credit · usually larger deals
Lent to Crusoe; last deal Mar 2025
MagnetarPrivate credit · usually larger deals
Lent to CoreWeave; last deal May 2024
BlackRockPrivate credit · usually larger deals
Lent to CoreWeave; last deal May 2024
BlackstonePrivate credit · usually larger deals
Lent to CoreWeave; last deal May 2024
CarlylePrivate credit · usually larger deals
Lent to CoreWeave; last deal May 2024
CDPQPrivate credit · usually larger deals
Lent to CoreWeave; last deal May 2024
CoatuePrivate credit · usually larger deals
Lent to CoreWeave; last deal May 2024
Eldridge IndustriesPrivate credit · usually larger deals
Lent to CoreWeave; last deal May 2024
Great Elm CapitalPrivate credit · usually larger deals
Lent to CoreWeave; last deal May 2024
Wingspire Equipment FinanceEquipment lessor · usually larger deals
Last deal Aug 2026, borrower not disclosed
Dell Financial ServicesEquipment lessor · usually larger deals
Lent to Nscale; last deal Apr 2026
Sentry FinancialEquipment lessor · usually larger deals
Last deal Jan 2025, borrower not disclosed
Terms lenders typically quote
- Rate: about 10 to 12 percent a year with a strong corporate customer
- Advance: 50 to 80 percent of the equipment cost
- Term: the contract’s length, though lenders rarely go past three years
- Covenant: cash flow of 1.15 to 1.25 times the loan payments
- Reserve: about 3 months of payments held back at closing
- Arrangement fee: 1 to 3 percent of the loan, paid to the lender
How lenders read a GPU project
A lender financing a cluster is lending against two things: hardware that loses value quickly, and a customer who has promised to pay for it. So the contract comes first. Rental rates move with the market and no lender can underwrite them; a multi-year take-or-pay commitment from a customer with a balance sheet is something it can.
Your own cash comes next. Lenders want you to carry part of the risk and to pay your own salaries and rent, so they look for 30 to 50 percent of the cost from you, investors, or the customer’s deposit, and six months of operating costs in the bank. Operators on their first projects should expect to bring about half.
Read the rest
Then the quotes make the cost real: a purchase quote from the maker or a reseller with the full bill of materials, and a colocation quote from a Tier III data center. With the contract, the cash and the quotes in hand, run lenders in a short burst rather than one at a time, and turn the customer’s letter into a signed contract once you hold a term sheet.
If cash is short, an operating lease asks for less up front, and mezzanine debt can stand in for part of your share. If the senior lender will only fund once the cluster is installed, a bridge covers the order. And above a few hundred million dollars, infrastructure lenders and asset-backed notes open up for operators with a record.
What lenders look for follows GPU Financing 101, a guide published by American Compute.
Who lends against compute
We map the lenders, lessors and onchain credit markets that finance GPUs and data centers, with the deals behind each one, alongside the companies that buy the capacity.
See the compute market