Suro Capital Corp. (SSSS): Analyse de Pestle [Jan-2025 Mise à jour]

Dans le monde dynamique du capital-risque, Suro Capital Corp. (SSSS) se tient au carrefour de l'innovation, de l'investissement et du potentiel transformateur. Navigant dans un paysage complexe de perturbations technologiques, d'incertitude économique et de cadres réglementaires en évolution, cette société d'investissement illustre la danse complexe de la prise de décision stratégique dans l'écosystème de démarrage en évolution rapide d'aujourd'hui. Des technologies émergentes aux stratégies d'investissement durables, le parcours de Suro Capital reflète les défis et les opportunités multiformes qui définissent le capital-risque moderne - un récit du risque calculé, de la perspicacité visionnaire et de la poursuite implacable du potentiel entrepreneurial révolutionnaire.

Suro Capital Corp. (SSSS) - Analyse du pilon: facteurs politiques

Climat d'investissement en capital-risque américain

Au quatrième trimestre 2023, les investissements totaux de capital-risque américain ont atteint 44,4 milliards de dollars dans 3 303 offres. Les opérations stratégiques de Suro Capital sont directement influencées par ces tendances d'investissement.

Métrique	Valeur	Année
Investissements totaux de VC	44,4 milliards de dollars	2023
Nombre d'offres VC	3,303	2023

Implications de la politique fiscale

Les taux d'imposition actuels des gains en capital pour les investissements à long terme varient de 0% à 20%, en fonction des supports de revenu. Pour les investisseurs à revenu élevé, le taux est de 20%.

• Taux d'imposition des gains en capital à long terme: 0%, 15%, 20%
• Impôt sur le revenu net des investissements: 3,8% supplémentaires pour les investisseurs à revenu élevé

Environnement réglementaire

La Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) maintient une supervision stricte des sociétés de capital-risque, avec Augmentation des exigences de déclaration En vertu de la loi Dodd-Frank.

Exigence réglementaire	Métrique de conformité
Former les dépôts ADV	Mises à jour annuelles obligatoires
Accréditation des investisseurs	Minimum 1 million de dollars de valeur nette ou 200 000 $ de revenu annuel

Paysage d'investissement technologique géopolitique

Les restrictions du gouvernement américain sur les investissements technologiques en Chine ont eu un impact sur les stratégies de capital-risque, avec 4,2 milliards de dollars réduits en investissements technologiques transfrontaliers en 2023.

• Restrictions d'investissement technologique dans les secteurs sensibles
• CFIUS Examen du processus pour les investissements étrangers
• Limitations de contrôle des exportations sur les technologies avancées

Suro Capital Corp. (SSSS) - Analyse du pilon: facteurs économiques

Conditions de marché volatiles affectant les stratégies d'investissement en capital-risque

Au quatrième trimestre 2023, les investissements en capital-risque ont totalisé 29,8 milliards de dollars, ce qui représente une baisse de 49% par rapport au quatrième trimestre 2022. Suro Capital Corp. a connu un impact direct avec les évaluations de la société de portefeuille fluctuant considérablement.

Métrique d'investissement	Valeur 2023	Valeur 2022	Pourcentage de variation
Investissements totaux de VC	116,3 milliards de dollars	242,2 milliards de dollars	-51.9%
Financement à un stade précoce	39,4 milliards de dollars	82,7 milliards de dollars	-52.4%
Financement en retard	57,5 milliards de dollars	125,6 milliards de dollars	-54.2%

Incertitude économique continue influençant les évaluations des startups technologiques

Les évaluations de startups technologiques ont connu une compression significative, les évaluations médianes avant le maximum diminuant de 38% entre les secteurs de la technologie.

Secteur des startups	2023 Évaluation médiane	2022 Évaluation médiane	Changement d'évaluation
Logiciel d'entreprise	45 millions de dollars	72 millions de dollars	-37.5%
Fintech	38 millions de dollars	61 millions de dollars	-37.7%
IA / Machine Learning	52 millions de dollars	84 millions de dollars	-38.1%

Les fluctuations des taux d'intérêt ont un impact sur la disponibilité du capital d'investissement

La politique de taux d'intérêt de la Réserve fédérale en 2023 a maintenu les taux entre 5,25% et 5,50%, contraignant directement les stratégies de déploiement du capital-risque.

Période de taux d'intérêt	Plage de taux	Impact de la disponibilité du capital
Q1 2023	4.75% - 5.00%	Contrainte modérée
Q2-Q4 2023	5.25% - 5.50%	Contrainte importante

Tendances de financement du capital-risque dans les secteurs de la technologie et de l'innovation

Le financement du secteur de la technologie a démontré des modèles d'investissement concentrés, l'IA et la cybersécurité recevant une allocation de capital substantielle.

Secteur technologique	2023 financement total	Pourcentage du financement total de VC
Intelligence artificielle	18,7 milliards de dollars	16.1%
Cybersécurité	12,4 milliards de dollars	10.7%
Logiciel d'entreprise	22,3 milliards de dollars	19.2%

Suro Capital Corp. (SSSS) - Analyse du pilon: facteurs sociaux

Demande croissante de technologie et d'investissements axés sur l'innovation

Au quatrième trimestre 2023, les investissements en capital-risque dans les secteurs de la technologie ont atteint 74,3 milliards de dollars, avec une croissance de 12,5% en glissement annuel. Suro Capital Corp. s'est positionné dans les principaux segments d'investissement technologique.

Segment d'investissement technologique	Investissement total ($ m)	Taux de croissance (%)
Intelligence artificielle	23,450	18.7
Cloud computing	15,670	14.3
Cybersécurité	11,230	16.9

Dynamique des effectifs changeants dans les secteurs du capital-risque et de la technologie

La composition de la main-d'œuvre en capital-risque montre des changements démographiques importants en 2023:

Catégorie de main-d'œuvre	Pourcentage (%)
Rôles de leadership des femmes en VC	14.2
Représentation des minorités dans les entreprises de capital-risque	9.7
Professionnels de moins de 35 ans	42.5

Intérêt croissant des investisseurs dans des portefeuilles d'investissement divers et socialement responsables

Les tendances d'investissement durables démontrent une croissance importante du marché:

Catégorie d'investissement	Total des actifs ($ b)	Croissance en glissement annuel (%)
Capital de capital-risque ESG	37.6	22.3
Impact Funds Investment	26.4	19.7

Modification de l'écosystème des startups et des tendances entrepreneuriales

Les métriques des écosystèmes de démarrage pour 2023 révèlent des développements importants:

Tendance	Nombre	Pourcentage de variation
Total de nouvelles startups	72,350	+8.6
Rounds de financement de semences	4,230	+15.3
Série A Financement	1,870	+11.9

Suro Capital Corp. (SSSS) - Analyse du pilon: facteurs technologiques

Technologies émergentes stimulant les opportunités d'investissement en capital-risque

Suro Capital Corp. a déclaré 32,7 millions de dollars investis dans des startups technologiques au T2 2023. Répartition de l'allocation du capital-risque:

Secteur technologique	Montant d'investissement	Pourcentage de portefeuille
Intelligence artificielle	12,4 millions de dollars	37.9%
Cybersécurité	8,6 millions de dollars	26.3%
Cloud computing	6,2 millions de dollars	19.0%
Calcul quantique	5,5 millions de dollars	16.8%

Transformation numérique accélérer le développement des écosystèmes de démarrage

Les investissements en transformation numérique ont atteint 47,3 millions de dollars en 2023, ce qui représente une augmentation de 22,6% en glissement annuel pour Suro Capital.

Analyse avancée des données améliorant les processus de prise de décision d'investissement

Suro Capital a investi 3,9 millions de dollars dans les plateformes avancées d'analyse de données avec les capacités suivantes:

• Analyse des tendances du marché en temps réel
• Modélisation prédictive des performances de démarrage
• Algorithmes d'évaluation des risques

Plateforme d'analyse de données	Investissement	Amélioration des performances
Analytique d'apprentissage automatique	1,7 million de dollars	36% de décisions d'investissement plus rapides
Logiciel de modélisation prédictive	1,2 million de dollars	28% plus précis d'évaluation des startups

Accent accru sur l'intelligence artificielle et les investissements d'apprentissage automatique

Les investissements en IA et en apprentissage automatique ont totalisé 18,6 millions de dollars en 2023, représentant 42,5% du portefeuille technologique de Suro Capital.

Catégorie d'investissement en IA	Montant investi	Compte de startup
AI génératif	7,4 millions de dollars	12 startups
Solutions de l'IA d'entreprise	6,2 millions de dollars	8 startups
Technologies de santé IA	5,0 millions de dollars	6 startups

Suro Capital Corp. (SSSS) - Analyse du pilon: facteurs juridiques

Exigences de conformité pour les réglementations d'investissement en capital-risque

Suro Capital Corp. doit respecter des normes de conformité réglementaire spécifiques en tant que société d'investissement enregistrée. La loi sur les sociétés d'investissement de 1940 oblige des directives strictes pour les investissements en capital-risque.

Exigence réglementaire	Métrique de conformité	Détails spécifiques
Compliance de la loi sur les sociétés d'investissement	Statut BDC enregistré	Enregistrement de la société de développement commercial vérifié (BDC)
Diversification des actifs	Allocation de portefeuille	Au moins 70% des actifs en investissements éligibles
Tirer parti des restrictions	Ratio dette / fonds propres	Ratio de dette / de capital-investissement maximum

Opération de la Commission des valeurs mobilières des valeurs mobilières

Exigences de dépôt de la SEC: Suro Capital Corp. doit soumettre des rapports trimestriels et annuels complets, y compris le formulaire 10-Q et le formulaire 10-K.

Dépôt SEC	Fréquence	Métriques de rapport clés
Formulaire 10-Q	Trimestriel	États financiers non audités
Formulaire 10-K	Annuellement	Rapport complet de performance financière
Formulaire 8-K	Axé sur l'événement	Changements de l'entreprise de matériel

Normes de divulgation et de rapport d'investissement

Les modifications réglementaires potentielles ont un impact sur les exigences de divulgation pour les investissements en capital-risque.

• Transparence dans les évaluations des entreprises de portefeuille
• Mécanismes de rapport de risque améliorés
• Divulgations détaillées de la stratégie d'investissement

Protection de la propriété intellectuelle

Société de portefeuille Stratégies de protection IP:

Méthode de protection IP	Taux de mise en œuvre	Fourchette de coûts typique
Dépôts de brevet	87% des sociétés de portefeuille	10 000 $ - 50 000 $ par brevet
Enregistrement des marques	72% des sociétés de portefeuille	1 500 $ - 3 000 $ par marque
Accords de confidentialité	95% des accords d'investissement	500 $ - 2 000 $ par accord

Suro Capital Corp. (SSSS) - Analyse du pilon: facteurs environnementaux

Les investisseurs croissants se concentrent sur des investissements durables et respectueux de l'environnement

Les actifs d'investissement durable mondiaux ont atteint 35,3 billions de dollars en 2020, ce qui représente une augmentation de 15% par rapport à 2018. Les stratégies d'investissement durable représentent 33% du total des actifs américains en vertu de la gestion professionnelle.

Année	Actifs d'investissement durables	Taux de croissance
2018	30,7 billions de dollars	-
2020	35,3 billions de dollars	15%

Technologies propres et opportunités d'investissement en énergies renouvelables

L'investissement mondial sur l'énergie propre en 2022 a atteint 495 milliards de dollars, les technologies solaires et éoliennes attirant 67% des investissements totaux.

Technologie	Montant d'investissement	Pourcentage du total
Solaire	191 milliards de dollars	38.6%
Vent	142 milliards de dollars	28.7%
Autres technologies propres	162 milliards de dollars	32.7%

Considérations environnementales, sociales et de gouvernance (ESG) dans les stratégies d'investissement

Fonds d'investissement axés sur l'ESG a connu une croissance significative, avec 2,7 billions de dollars d'actifs sous gestion en 2022.

• L'intégration ESG dans les stratégies d'investissement a augmenté de 22% en 2021
• Les investisseurs institutionnels allouant 42% de leurs portefeuilles aux investissements ESG

Impact du changement climatique sur la technologie et le développement des écosystèmes de startups

Les startups de technologie climatique ont levé 60,8 milliards de dollars de financement de capital-risque en 2022, ce qui représente une augmentation de 89% par rapport à 2020.

Année	Financement de startup technologique sur le climat	Croissance d'une année à l'autre
2020	32,2 milliards de dollars	-
2022	60,8 milliards de dollars	89%

SuRo Capital Corp. (SSSS) - PESTLE Analysis: Social factors

High public demand for AI-driven products fuels the valuation of key portfolio companies like OpenAI (valued at $300 billion).

The social fascination and rapid integration of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) into daily life is a massive tailwind for SuRo Capital Corp.'s portfolio. Honestly, this is the single biggest social trend driving their recent performance. That high public demand translates directly into staggering private market valuations for companies like OpenAI, where SuRo Capital holds a significant position.

In the first half of 2025, OpenAI closed a massive financing round that established a post-money valuation of $300.0 billion, which was the largest private capital raise ever by a technology company. This valuation, which SuRo Capital maintained on its books as of September 30, 2025, reflects the social consensus that AI is a foundational technology. To be fair, some media reports in late 2025 even suggested a potential valuation of up to $500 billion or $1 trillion, but the $300.0 billion figure is the one currently recognized in the company's financial reporting.

Here's the quick math on the portfolio allocation as of June 30, 2025, showing where this social trend is hitting the hardest:

• AI Infrastructure & Applications: 33% of total portfolio at fair value
• Financial Technology and Services: 17% of total portfolio at fair value
• Consumer Goods and Services: 16% of total portfolio at fair value

Consumer adoption of FinTech platforms like Plaid, where SuRo Capital invested $5.0 million in 2025, drives portfolio diversification.

The shift away from traditional banking to digital, seamless financial services-FinTech-is a clear social factor that SuRo Capital is capitalizing on. People want to connect their bank accounts to apps easily and securely. That's why the firm made a new investment in Plaid, a company that sits right at the center of this trend.

In April 2025, SuRo Capital completed a new investment of $5.0 million in Plaid through a wholly owned Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). Plaid is a market-leading platform that enables secure, seamless connectivity between financial applications and consumers. This isn't a niche market; Plaid is estimated to reach 1 in every 2 adults in the U.S., showing just how deeply FinTech has penetrated the American consumer base. A $5.0 million bet on a foundational layer of the digital economy is a smart, defintely diversified move.

Increased focus on health and wellness technology supports the follow-on investment in wearables company WHOOP.

The social trend of prioritizing personal health, performance monitoring, and preventative wellness continues to grow. This is what supports the value proposition of wearables companies. People are now tracking everything from sleep quality to heart rate variability, which makes the data collected by these devices incredibly valuable.

SuRo Capital recognized this sustained demand by making a $1.0 million follow-on investment in WHOOP in February 2025, which is a wearables technology company focused on tracking sleep, strain, recovery, stress, and other health biometrics. This follow-on investment brought SuRo Capital's aggregate investment in WHOOP to approximately $11.0 million. This investment aligns with the broader social movement toward quantified self and personalized health management, which is a durable, long-term trend.

The company acts as a public gateway to venture capital, providing retail investors access to sought-after private companies.

A key social and structural factor for SuRo Capital is its very business model: it's a publicly traded investment fund that provides retail investors with access to private, high-growth, venture-backed companies. This democratizes a historically exclusive asset class (venture capital), which is a powerful social value proposition.

This structure allows the average investor to gain exposure to companies like OpenAI and Plaid before they potentially go public. This is critical because it links the financial performance of SuRo Capital's private portfolio directly to the public market's appetite for venture-backed growth, effectively serving as the public's gateway to venture capital.

The following table summarizes the 2025 activity driven by these social trends:

Portfolio Company	Social Trend Driver	2025 Financial Action	Key 2025 Value/Metric
OpenAI	Public Demand for Generative AI	Valuation Maintained (Q3 2025)	Post-Money Valuation: $300.0 billion
Plaid	Consumer FinTech Adoption	New Investment (April 2025)	Investment Amount: $5.0 million
WHOOP	Health & Wellness Technology Focus	Follow-on Investment (Feb 2025)	Follow-on Amount: $1.0 million

SuRo Capital Corp. (SSSS) - PESTLE Analysis: Technological factors

The portfolio is heavily concentrated in AI and AI Infrastructure, which is the primary driver of 2025 valuation growth.

The core of SuRo Capital Corp.'s recent success is its concentrated exposure to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI infrastructure, which has been the primary technological driver of portfolio growth throughout 2025. This focus led to a significant appreciation in Net Asset Value (NAV) per share, which surged 35% in the second quarter of 2025 alone, reaching $9.18 per share as of June 30, 2025.

As of September 30, 2025, the allocation to AI Infrastructure & Applications represented the largest portion of the total portfolio, accounting for 30.5% of the $252.2 million portfolio fair value. A key holding is OpenAI Global, LLC, which was valued at a $300 billion post-money valuation on SuRo Capital Corp.'s books as of September 30, 2025, following a $40 billion financing round. The market momentum is so strong that a secondary share sale for OpenAI was reportedly concluded in October 2025, valuing the company at $500 billion. This is a massive tailwind. The firm is clearly positioned to ride the generative AI wave.

Investment in decentralized finance via a $5 million investment in HL Digital Assets, Inc. (HYPE token) signals a foray into blockchain technology.

In a move to capture emerging decentralized finance (DeFi) technology, SuRo Capital Corp. made a new investment in the third quarter of 2025. In September 2025, the company invested $5 million into HL Digital Assets, Inc., which is a vehicle for investing in HYPE, the digital token of Hyperliquid. Hyperliquid is a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange, meaning it operates without a central authority, a key application of blockchain technology.

This investment, while a small fraction of the overall portfolio, signals a strategic intent to gain exposure to the high-risk, high-reward sector of decentralized finance. It's a calculated bet on the long-term viability of blockchain-based trading platforms as an alternative to traditional financial technology (FinTech) infrastructure. This diversification into a new technological frontier helps balance the concentration risk inherent in the AI-heavy portfolio.

CoreWeave's successful IPO highlights the value of investments in high-performance computing and cloud infrastructure.

The successful Initial Public Offering (IPO) of CoreWeave, an AI cloud computing provider, in the first quarter of 2025 strongly validated SuRo Capital Corp.'s investment thesis in high-performance computing (HPC) and specialized cloud infrastructure. CoreWeave's IPO, priced at $40.00 per share and commencing trading on March 28, 2025, was the largest technology IPO since 2021. The post-IPO performance of CoreWeave was a key driver of the company's second-quarter NAV appreciation.

SuRo Capital Corp. has already begun monetizing this success. As of September 30, 2025, the company had monetized less than 20% of its initial investment in CW Opportunity 2, LP, the entity holding the CoreWeave shares. This partial exit generated proceeds of $7.2 million and a realized gain of $3.7 million from the CW Opportunity 2 LP position in the third quarter of 2025. This demonstrates a clear pathway for converting private technology investments into realized public market gains.

The portfolio holds positions in 37 companies, with 33 being privately held, emphasizing a venture-backed tech focus.

The portfolio composition confirms SuRo Capital Corp.'s identity as a public vehicle for venture-backed technology investments. As of September 30, 2025, the company held positions in a total of 37 portfolio companies. The vast majority of these holdings are in private companies, which is the firm's core competency. Only 4 of the companies were publicly held, with the remaining 33 being privately held, emphasizing a deliberate focus on high-growth, pre-IPO tech firms.

This structure means SuRo Capital Corp. is defintely a play on the pre-IPO technology market, offering investors access to capital appreciation from companies like OpenAI, which are still privately held. The risk, of course, is that the valuation of the majority of the portfolio is based on private market data and subject to significant mark-to-market volatility. The breakdown of the portfolio by public and private status as of the end of the third quarter of 2025 is clear:

Portfolio Status	Number of Companies (Q3 2025)	Percentage of Total
Privately Held	33	89.2%
Publicly Held	4	10.8%
Total Companies	37	100.0%

You need to keep watching the public-to-private ratio. A shift to more public holdings would indicate a successful realization of gains and a more liquid portfolio, which is the ultimate goal.

SuRo Capital Corp. (SSSS) - PESTLE Analysis: Legal factors

Compliance with the Investment Company Act of 1940

As a Business Development Company (BDC), SuRo Capital Corp. is defintely governed by the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the 1940 Act). This federal law dictates much of how the company operates, especially concerning its capital structure, leverage, and transactions with affiliates. The BDC structure requires the company to pay out at least 90% of its taxable income as dividends to shareholders, which directly links portfolio liquidity events (like a sale or IPO) to investor returns.

The 1940 Act also imposes specific restrictions on co-investments with certain affiliates, often requiring prior approval from the Board of Directors, including independent directors, and sometimes the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This adds a layer of regulatory complexity to new investment sourcing and execution.

Lock-up Provisions on Public Shares

The monetization of your private company investments is often constrained by legal lock-up provisions, which are essentially contractual agreements that prevent the sale of shares for a set period following a public listing (like an Initial Public Offering, or IPO). This is a critical legal risk for a BDC focused on pre-IPO investments because it dictates the timing of realizing gains and, consequently, paying dividends.

You saw a clear example of this in the first half of 2025. The lock-up on ServiceTitan shares expired on June 10, 2025, and SuRo Capital Corp. was able to sell its entire public common share position by June 27, 2025. This sale contributed directly to the company's ability to declare a dividend.

As of the end of the third quarter of 2025 (September 30, 2025), SuRo Capital Corp. still held approximately $41.9 million in public securities subject to lockup or other sales restrictions. This total includes the investment in CoreWeave via the CW Opportunity 2 LP. The company had anticipated the CoreWeave Class A Common Shares would be registered and freely tradable by September 2025, but the remaining restricted value shows that a portion of the portfolio is still tied up, delaying the next potential liquidity event.

Share Repurchase Program Extension

The legal framework allows for a Share Repurchase Program, which the Board uses as a tool to enhance shareholder value, especially when the stock trades at a discount to its Net Asset Value (NAV). On October 29, 2025, the Board of Directors authorized an extension of the discretionary Share Repurchase Program, demonstrating a commitment to this strategy.

Here's the quick math on the program's status as of late 2025:

Metric	Amount/Date	Notes
Program Extension Date	October 31, 2026	The new expiration date for the discretionary program.
Total Authorized Repurchase Amount (Since Inception)	$64.3 million	The aggregate amount authorized for repurchase of common stock.
Total Repurchased (Since Inception, August 2017)	Approximately $39.3 million	Repurchased over 6.0 million shares.
Remaining Capacity (as of October 29, 2025)	Approximately $25.0 million	The dollar value of shares that may yet be purchased.

SEC Reporting Requirements

As a publicly traded BDC, the company is subject to strict SEC reporting requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. This mandates transparent and timely disclosure of financial and portfolio information, which is crucial for investor confidence.

The legal obligation to file Forms 10-Q (Quarterly Report) and 8-K (Current Report) ensures you get a frequent, detailed look at the company's health. For example, the company filed its Form 10-Q on November 6, 2025, and an 8-K on November 4, 2025, to report financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2025.

This is where the rubber meets the road for valuation.

• Mandatory disclosure of portfolio valuations, which are inherently complex for private companies.
• Requires a detailed explanation of the valuation methods used for illiquid assets.
• Forces compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) for internal controls.

These requirements ensure precision in reporting a Net Asset Value (NAV) of $9.23 per share as of September 30, 2025.

SuRo Capital Corp. (SSSS) - PESTLE Analysis: Environmental factors

Indirect exposure to the significant energy and water consumption of AI data centers through investments like CoreWeave.

You're heavily invested in the AI infrastructure boom, which is a major driver of your recent performance-your Net Asset Value (NAV) hit $9.23 per share as of September 30, 2025, largely thanks to companies like CoreWeave. But that success comes with a massive, indirect environmental liability you need to map.

CoreWeave, a key portfolio company, is an AI hyperscaler, meaning its business is inherently tied to high-density computing that demands enormous power and cooling. As of November 2025, CoreWeave's portfolio runs on approximately 590 MW of active power, with nearly 2.9 GW of power under contract. That's a huge energy commitment. To be fair, CoreWeave is investing in liquid cooling to be more efficient, but the sheer scale of the AI build-out is what matters here.

The industry's appetite for resources is staggering. U.S. data center electricity consumption is projected to grow by 133% from 2024 to reach 426 TWh by 2030. Plus, the water consumption for cooling these facilities is a major local risk. Global data center water consumption is forecast to more than triple from 175 billion liters in 2023 to 664 billion liters by 2030.

Here's the quick math on the AI infrastructure resource demand:

Resource Metric	2025/Near-Term Data	Source of Risk
CoreWeave Active Power	~590 MW (Nov 2025)	Grid strain, carbon emissions (depending on local energy mix).
U.S. Data Center Power Growth	Projected 133% increase to 426 TWh by 2030	Regulatory pressure on energy sourcing.
Global Data Center Water Consumption	Forecast to reach 664 billion liters by 2030	Water scarcity conflicts, public backlash in arid regions.

Growing investor pressure on venture funds to adopt and report on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) standards.

The narrative that ESG is dead is defintely overblown, but the pressure is changing, especially in the US. While the U.S. saw its tenth consecutive quarter of ESG fund withdrawals, totaling $6.1 billion, the global picture is more resilient. Global ESG fund assets still held steady at $3.16 trillion as of March 2025.

For a Business Development Company (BDC) like SuRo Capital, this means institutional investors and limited partners (LPs) are quietly maintaining their sustainability goals. Honestly, 87% of surveyed institutional investors report their ESG goals are unchanged, even if they are talking less about them publicly due to political headwinds.

Your action is clear: you need better data. Many U.S.-based private companies are still underprepared for new ESG reporting requirements. This lack of standardized, quantitative environmental data from your portfolio companies creates a material risk for you as a public company, especially as regulators worldwide ramp up reporting demands.

Portfolio companies face increasing regulatory and public scrutiny over electronic waste from rapidly evolving AI hardware.

The AI compute lifecycle creates a significant, overlooked environmental burden: electronic waste (e-waste). The core of AI infrastructure, the specialized processing units (GPUs, TPUs), have a much shorter useful life than standard server equipment. This is a huge risk for your AI-focused portfolio companies.

The hardware refresh cycle for AI chips is often every 1 to 2 years, compared to the typical 3 to 5 years for standard servers. This rapid turnover is projected to increase global e-waste by an additional 3% by 2030, translating to about 2.5 million metric tons of extra e-waste annually.

The risk is magnified because CoreWeave, for example, depreciates its Nvidia GPUs over a six-year economic life. If the operational reality is a 1-to-2-year refresh cycle, that depreciation schedule is grossly underestimating the true cost of hardware replacement and the associated environmental liability. It's a classic example of a financial decision clashing with an environmental reality.

• AI chip refresh cycle: 1-2 years.
• Projected global e-waste increase from AI by 2030: 3%.
• CoreWeave's stated GPU depreciation life: 6 years.

The AI compute lifecycle, a core investment area, is linked to a large environmental footprint, primarily from operations.

When you look at the total environmental footprint of an AI company, the vast majority of the impact comes from the day-to-day operations, not the initial manufacturing or construction. This is a critical distinction for your due diligence on new investments.

The operational phase-model training and inference (the ongoing use of the AI model every time a user queries it)-accounts for an estimated 85.5% of the total greenhouse gas emissions produced by AI. Infrastructure, which includes the embodied impacts of data center construction and hardware, only accounts for about 11.5%. This means the environmental risk is less about where the data center is built, and more about how the power is sourced and how efficiently the models are run.

The small, cumulative energy cost of every user query scales dramatically with the widespread adoption of AI, which is exactly the growth you are banking on. You need to push your portfolio companies to prioritize operational efficiency and clean energy sourcing, not just hardware performance.