Auradine, a maker of computing equipment for bitcoin (BTC) mining and AI applications, said it raised $153 million in a Series C funding round. The Silicon Valley, California-based company also formed a new business group, AuraLinks AI, focused on open-standards to address cooling requirements of next-generation AI data centers. AI data centers and BTC mining share similarities in their operational requirements. Given the proliferation of AI in mainstream use in recent years, the subject of data centers is now commonplace in public discourse. This is significant for the cryptocurrency industry because most things that relate to AI data centers could also be applied to bitcoin mining. "Our dual focus on Bitcoin and AI infrastructure places Auradine at the intersection of pivotal technologies that will reshape computing and energy utilization for decades to come," CEO Rajiv Khemani said in a statement. The funding round, which took Auradine's total backing to $300 million, was led by StepStone Group and included another contribution from bitcoin miner MARA, as well as Maverick Silicon, Samsung Catalyst Fund and Qualcomm Ventures, among others.