Cloud Capital emerges from stealth with $7.7M to tackle the $344B cloud cost crisis for CFOs

CFOs are staring down a growing financial black hole—and it’s coming from their cloud bills. As companies double down on AI infrastructure, cloud usage is spiking at a rate most finance teams can’t keep up with. Costs are ballooning, long-term contracts are locking companies into risky commitments, and there’s little visibility or forecasting support for the people who actually approve the spend.

That’s the gap Cloud Capital is stepping in to solve.

Just out of stealth with $7.7 million in fresh funding, Cloud Capital wants to hand the reins back to finance leaders by helping them forecast cloud usage, identify safe savings, and eliminate the financial risk tied to multi-year cloud commitments.

Founded by Edward Barrow (CEO), Spencer Pingry (CTO), and Zack Liscio (CPO)—all repeat SaaS founders with exits under their belts—the team built Cloud Capital after managing more than $500 million in cloud spend across companies like Idio, Zaius, Naytev, and Optimizely. They saw firsthand how hard it is to control cloud costs at scale, and how often CFOs are left making decisions without real tools to back them up.

“We believe cloud infrastructure is the largest broken market in tech,” said Edward Barrow, Co-founder & CEO. “We’ve been in the driving seat; we’ve built the forecasts and we’ve lived the pain. We built Cloud Capital to give CFOs the same level of control over cloud that they have across the rest of the P&L.”

A $344B problem that’s only getting worse

Cloud infrastructure has quietly become the second-largest cost line after salaries for most tech companies. For AI-native startups, it can reach 30% to 40% of revenue. With companies scrambling to train and deploy AI models, cloud spend hit a $344 billion run rate in Q4 2024 and is projected to pass $1 trillion by 2030.

Cloud providers are scaling up fast to meet that demand—global data center investments jumped 51% this year—but those investments come with strings attached. Hyperscalers expect customers to commit to long-term deals, pushing the risk downstream to finance teams.

Nearly 27% of companies are blowing past their cloud budgets, and according to Cloud Capital, up to 40% of savings are left on the table simply because no one has the tools to track usage or model risk with confidence. Engineers are stuck trying to optimize costs, but the accountability rests with CFOs—who often feel like they’re signing checks blindfolded.

“Cloud has always been a massive cost center but, with AI workloads driving usage through the roof, it’s become the fastest growing and least controlled line item on the P&L,” said Zack Liscio, Co-founder & CPO. “CFOs are being asked to approve major cloud investments without the visibility or control to manage the risk. We built Cloud Capital to give them the tools they need to forecast spend, manage risk, and make smarter decisions.”

Building finance-first infrastructure for the cloud era

Cloud Capital isn’t just trying to optimize costs—it’s trying to reframe cloud infrastructure as a financial asset. The company’s AI-powered platform analyzes real-time usage, engineering plans, and financial models to help finance teams plan with precision. Companies can simulate spend, spot low-risk savings, or offload the commitment risk altogether—Cloud Capital even steps in to underwrite and absorb the liability for long-term contracts.

“Other tools help engineers save money. We help CFOs manage risk,” said Spencer Pingry, Co-founder & CTO. “We’re building financial infrastructure—a control layer for cloud that gives companies a new way to finance and optimize cloud like any other major investment.”

Fast traction, fast funding

The company initially raised $2.3 million in a quiet pre-seed round led by Connect Ventures, with help from strategic FinTech angels. After gaining strong traction with early customers, Cloud Capital closed an additional $5.4 million seed round led by Backed Ventures and Middlegame Ventures, with support from DFF Ventures.

“Cloud Capital is tackling one of the most urgent and overlooked problems in tech: the lack of financial control in cloud infrastructure,” said Rory Stirling, Partner at Connect Ventures. “We backed this team because they’ve lived the problem, and they’re building with a clarity and conviction that only comes from first-hand experience. They’re not just optimizing costs, they’re reshaping the financial infrastructure of the cloud era.”

Already in use by high-growth startups

Cloud Capital is already live with dozens of fast-growing startups in AI, FinTech, and cybersecurity. The platform is helping CFOs across North America and Europe make smarter financial decisions about their cloud investments, without being locked into inflexible, long-term contracts.

For finance teams feeling the squeeze from rising AI workloads and runaway cloud bills, Cloud Capital could be the lifeline they didn’t know they needed.