American infrastructure giant Crusoe Technologies, one of the world’s fastest-growing companies in AI infrastructure, is officially entering Israel’s data center sector following an agreement with Israeli data center company Anan Data Center from the Europe-Israel Group.
Anan, founded in 2022 by Maor Maloul (serving as CEO), alongside singer Omer Adam and investor Nissim Shriel-Gaon, will provide advanced AI HPC infrastructure totaling approximately 40 megawatts, with potential for further expansion – as part of a long-term contract with a total financial scope estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars.
The massive deal positions Anan as a central player in the AI infrastructure sector, establishing it as one of Israel’s largest and most influential companies in the data center and AI space, and values it at approximately $1 billion.
This represents a meteoric valuation surge and particularly impressive achievement for the three founders, who established the company just four years ago. Last November, Leumi Partners acquired approximately 20% of the company’s shares at a post-money valuation of approximately $375 million – meaning the new valuation reflects a jump of approximately 167% in less than half a year.
International finance and investment figure Nissim Shriel-Gaon, owner of Swiss investment house Lian Group, is the company’s largest shareholder, holding an estimated half of total shares. Maor Maloul, serving as CEO, and Omer Adam, who share additional joint ventures, each hold 18% of the company.
“We view Anan as a central and highly strategic partner for our operations in Israel,” Crusoe stated. “As part of our regional expansion, we are working to deepen our local presence through specialized teams, guided by a long-term perspective that positions Israel as a key hub in the global AI landscape. In this context, Anan serves as our leading local partner.”
“We welcome the agreement with Crusoe and view them as a long-term strategic partner moving forward,” the Israeli company declared. “This collaboration represents an initial step in a broader initiative to establish a global AI infrastructure platform from Israel to the world.”
According to the company’s announcement, Anan’s Afula site is being built at an accelerated round-the-clock pace. Currently, the data center complex is expected to reach a total capacity of 100 megawatts, spanning tens of thousands of square meters, with redundant power systems, advanced cooling, generators, and high availability.
Alongside the Crusoe agreement, Anan is demonstrating particularly accelerated growth. The company recently signed several additional binding agreements with international entities in the AI sector and is simultaneously advancing the establishment of additional sites in Israel, with a total scope exceeding 500 megawatts.
Strategic Cybersecurity Investor
Anan, founded by Maor Maloul (serving as CEO), alongside singer Omer Adam and investor Nissim Shriel-Gaon, works to build advanced computing infrastructure for AI, cloud, and heavy computing applications. The company doesn’t operate under a traditional data center model but rather focuses primarily on establishing an AI Infrastructure Platform on a global scale.
Crusoe Technologies is considered one of the world’s most innovative companies in AI infrastructure, providing advanced Neocloud solutions for AI applications using cutting-edge GPU processors and specialized models for heavy computation. The company recently raised approximately $1.4 billion at a valuation of approximately $10 billion and serves leading companies including OpenAI and Oracle.
Crusoe’s operations in Israel are led by Alon Yariv, CEO of Crusoe Israel, who joined the company after selling his operations to it for an estimated $200 million, representing part of the company’s global expansion.
The American company stated that alongside regional complexity, the current deal reflects a clear trend of international technology companies continuing to choose Israel as a strategic destination, thanks in part to high-quality human capital, an advanced startup ecosystem, developing technological infrastructure, and strong execution capabilities.
As mentioned, Anan Data Center, one of Israel’s largest companies in the data center sector, is owned by three main entities: brothers Maor and Snir Maloul, owners of real estate company Europe Israel; Swiss Lian Group owned by Nissim Shriel-Gaon; and PAI company owned by singer Omer Adam and his family.
This isn’t Omer Adam’s only investment in Israel’s booming tech sector. The successful singer, considered one of Israel’s most popular and highest-earning performers, is also a strategic investor in intriguing cybersecurity startup Aryon Security, founded by 30 Under 30 list alumni Ron Arbel, Ariel Litmanovich, and Yair Ledizhansky.
In early 2025, the Israeli cybersecurity startup, which develops cloud security solutions, announced its emergence from stealth mode and unveiled innovative technology for preventing cloud security breaches. Simultaneously with emerging from the shadows, the company reported completing a $9 million seed funding round led by venture capital funds Viola Ventures and Blumberg Capital – alongside additional investments from leading private investors in the local high-tech industry, including Shlomo Kramer, co-founder of Check Point.
From Crypto Mining to $10 Billion AI Giant
Crusoe, currently valued at $10 billion, specializes in finding untapped energy sources in remote locations like North Dakota and Iceland and building data centers to power compute-heavy tasks – from cryptocurrency mining to running and training AI models. For context, systems like ChatGPT consume enormous amounts of electricity, enough to power tens of thousands of homes.
The American giant is building one of the world’s largest data centers in Abilene, Texas, as the lead developer of the first site of Project Stargate – a $500 billion joint AI infrastructure initiative backed by OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX. It later advanced to smaller, modular data centers that are easier and more efficient to assemble and operate.
Chase Lochmiller, Crusoe’s CEO, who summited Mount Everest before founding the company in 2018, told Forbes in 2025: “We’re building the factory of factories.” Last March, Crusoe announced the construction of a 900-megawatt data center to help power Microsoft’s AI products, with the company’s clients including giants like OpenAI and Oracle.
