In an effort to give more people and organizations access to “powerful, long-lasting computing resources,” distributed cloud provider Hive is raising €12 million (about $13 million) in a Series A round led by SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s innovation, fintech investment, and ventures division. The distributed cloud technology developed by Hive would provide access to processing power and storage more affordably and effectively.
With Hive, a company based in Geneva, Switzerland, the cloud is being reimagined as a distributed cloud infrastructure that combines the underused hard drive and processing power of individual devices, replacing the costly centralized model that requires physical servers. The Hive model lets companies cut down on reliance on a small number of cloud providers, effectively manage their cloud-related costs, and use cloud energy at a much lower rate. OneRagtime, a French venture capital fund that led Hive’s Seed round, and a collection of private investors also joined the funding round.
Global data centers, which provide energy to the cloud globally, needed 7.4 gigawatts of power in 2023, up 55% from 2022. As of right now, data centers use up to 3% of the world’s electricity, but by 2030, estimates indicate that number might reach 4%.
“Hive is addressing the pressing need for a new cloud paradigm that democratizes access, lowers financial barriers, and encourages innovation,” said David Gurlé, the founder and Executive Chairman of Hive. “With billions of devices linked to the Internet and more than 70% of our devices’ computing power, Hive’s community-driven model creates ‘The Right Cloud,’ providing a more secure, resilient, and environmentally friendly alternative that also encourages a more egalitarian cloud solution. We appreciate the ongoing assistance from INRIA and Bpifrance as well as our investors in helping us to realize our lofty objectives.”
Access Additional CPU, GPU, NPU As Needed
In order to reduce their membership costs and create the distributed cloud, Hive has gathered over 25,000 active users and contributors from 147 countries. These users store their files on hiveDisk and donate a portion of their unused hard drives to hiveNet. This has happened since October 2023. The computing power supplied to hiveNet also drives hiveCompute, which enables businesses to handle tasks including 3D modeling, video processing, and GenAI inference.
The architecture of HiveNet makes it possible to access more CPU, GPU, or NPU as needed, increasing the critically required processing power. Businesses looking for more power can also create their own exclusive hiveNet, where IT managers are in complete control of the devices.
Hive announced a Joint Development Partner (JDP) program in December. Through close collaboration with important partners, the JDP program aims to revolutionize the cloud landscape for companies who use GenAI LLM calculations.
“We are big believers of Hive’s distributed cloud technology that will enable cheaper and more efficient access to computing power and storage, a critical point when most of our ventures may have an AI component requiring increasing such computing power,” said Alex Manson, the founder of SC Ventures. “In addition to our investment, our ventures will be leveraging Hive’s services.”
“Cloud technology has opened up horizons of innovation, but it also comes with challenges in terms of costs, security, data privacy, and environmental impact, heightened by the increasing demand for computing resources, especially for artificial intelligence,” said Stéphanie Hospital, Founder and CEO of OneRagtime. “Hive facilitates the sharing of computational power resources and makes cloud access more safe, economical, and effective for all users thanks to its innovative distributed cloud methodology. OneRagtime is especially thrilled to support Hive’s team and goals as an early supporter and investment.”
