Vast Data in Talks for Multibillion-Dollar Funding Round, Potentially Valuing AI Storage Startup at $30 Billion

Vast Data in talks with Alphabet's CapitalG, Nvidia to fund round at up to $30B valuation | TechCrunch

AI storage platform Vast Data is in talks with Alphabet's venture arm CapitalG and existing backer Nvidia to raise a fresh round that could value the startup at up to $30 billion, Reuters reported, citing two sources. TechCrunch reported last month that Vast Data was working to raise funds at a $25 billion valuation. The round could close in the next few weeks, per Reuters, which would make New York-based Vast Data -- last valued at $9.1 billion in 2023 -- one of the most valuable tech companies. Vast Data develops storage technology that claims to enable efficiency in AI data centers. As the AI boom intensifies and the U.S. government greenlights the scaled build-out of data centers, AI infrastructure startups are becoming a hot new focus for investment. The startup has raised $380 million to date, and its CEO Renen Halak said the company is free cash flow positive. Sources told Reuters that Vast Data earned $200 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) by January 2025, with projections to grow to $600 million in ARR next year.

Exclusive: Alphabet's CapitalG, Nvidia in talks to fund Vast Data at up to $30 billion valuation, sources say

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab growth-stage venture arm CapitalG and Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab are in talks to invest in artificial intelligence infrastructure provider Vast Data in a new funding round that could value the startup as high as $30 billion, two sources said. The startup is raising several billion dollars from tech giants, private equity and venture capital investors, which could make it one of the most valuable AI startups, the two sources with knowledge of the matter said, as companies building the backbone for the AI boom come into sharper focus. CapitalG and existing backer Nvidia are in discussions to participate in the round, which could close in the next few weeks, according to the sources, who requested anonymity to speak on private matters. New York-headquartered Vast Data develops storage technology specifically designed for large AI data centers, enabling efficient data movement between graphics processors (GPUs) made by the likes of Nvidia. Its clients include companies such as Elon Musk's xAI and CoreWeave (CRWV.O), opens new tab , and its value in the AI supply chain makes it an attractive acquisition target, bankers and analysts said. Nvidia declined to comment, while Vast Data and CapitalG did not respond to requests for comment. TechCrunch earlier reported Vast Data's fundraising efforts, but the valuation of up to $30 billion and the expected involvement of CapitalG and Nvidia have not been reported previously. Vast Data CEO Renen Halak has said the company is free cash flow positive. The company earned $200 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) by January 2025, with a strong backlog of orders and projections to grow ARR to $600 million next year, according to a separate source familiar with its financials. The company has raised roughly $380 million to date, and its last funding round in 2023 valued it at $9.1 billion. Vast Data has said it would consider an initial public offering at the right time. While no listing is imminent, according to another source familiar with the matter, investors and bankers view the data infrastructure firm as a likely IPO candidate. Vast Data last year hired Amy Shapero, its first chief financial officer, who was previously in the same role at publicly listed e-commerce giant Shopify (SHOP.TO), opens new tab, in a move that could signal preparations for an IPO. Mergers and acquisitions activity has also been heating up in the sector, and Nvidia has been acquiring companies that add complementary software and hardware products beyond its flagship GPUs. In 2020, it bought networking chip and cable maker Mellanox, which has helped Nvidia build integrated systems featuring its latest Blackwell chips. It has also acquired software companies such as Run:ai, which helps engineers optimize data center AI hardware. Vast Data's storage architecture is based on a system of flash storage devices and other off-the-shelf hardware, combined with its specialized software for data access and movement. The company says adopting its technology can reduce the cost of building and running large AI models. Several early-stage companies, such as Weka and DDN, are pursuing similar efforts, but analysts and industry executives say Vast Data's technology is more mature than that of its rivals. Reporting by Max A. Cherney in San Francisco and Krystal Hu and Milana Vinn in New York; Additional reporting by Kenrick Cai in San Francisco and Echo Wang in New York; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Jamie Freed Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Artificial Intelligence Krystal Hu Thomson Reuters Krystal reports on venture capital and startups for Reuters. She covers Silicon Valley and beyond through the lens of money and characters, with a focus on growth-stage startups, tech investments and AI. She has previously covered M&A for Reuters, breaking stories on Trump's SPAC and Elon Musk's Twitter financing. Previously, she reported on Amazon for Yahoo Finance, and her investigation of the company's retail practice was cited by lawmakers in Congress. Krystal started a career in journalism by writing about tech and politics in China. She has a master's degree from New York University, and enjoys a scoop of Matcha ice cream as much as getting a scoop at work. Max A. Cherney Thomson Reuters Max A. Cherney is a correspondent for Reuters based in San Francisco, where he reports on the semiconductor industry and artificial intelligence. He joined Reuters in 2023 and has previously worked for Barron's magazine and its sister publication, MarketWatch. Cherney graduated from Trent University with a degree in history. Milana Vinn Thomson Reuters Milana Vinn reports on technology, media, and telecom (TMT) mergers and acquisitions. Her content usually appears in the markets and deals sections of the website. Milana previously worked at GLG and PE Hub, where she spent several years covering TMT deals in private equity. She graduated from CUNY Graduate School of Journalism with Masters in Business Journalism.

Report: Vast Data could raise multibillion-dollar funding round at $30B valuation - SiliconANGLE

Report: Vast Data could raise multibillion-dollar funding round at $30B valuation Data center storage provider Vast Data Inc. is reportedly in talks to raise a multibillion-dollar funding round Sources told Reuters today that Nvidia Corp. and CapitalG, Alphabet Inc.'s growth-stage startup fund, could back the investment. Multiple private equity and venture capital firms are expected to participate as well. It's believed the round could close in the coming weeks. Vast Data provides a software platform for powering data center storage environments. The platform keeps information in storage systems equipped with QLC memory, a type of low-cost flash. Those systems are managed by commodity servers equipped with central processing units. Vast Data says that its software makes it relatively simple to recover from hardware failures. When a server malfunctions in a Vast Data environment, there's no disruption to the QLC flash appliances that the platform uses to store information. This means no information is lost, which removes the need for administrators to perform manual data recovery. If a QLC flash appliance fails, Vast Data can recover its contents using a technology dubbed LDECs. It works by splitting each file into multiple fragments and spreading those fragments across different storage systems. Should one of the systems go offline, the fragments that are still available can be used to reconstruct the file. Competing storage platforms offer similar capabilities. According to Vast Data, those platforms must usually extract all the data contained in file fragments before they can reconstruct the original file. The company's LDECs technology needs to extract only part of the data, which speeds up file recovery. Vast Data says that its platform also provides other benefits. The fact that the software only uses QLC flash removes the need for other types of storage hardware such as disk drives, which reduces complexity. Additionally, customers can add compute resources to their environments without provisioning more storage equipment and vice versa. That can help reduce infrastructure costs. After its last funding round in 2023, Vast Data disclosed that its platform managed more than 10 exabytes of data for customers. That number has likely increased significantly since then. According to Reuters, the company's annual recurring revenue topped $200 million last year and is projected to reach $600 million in 2026. The funding round that Vast Data is in talks to raise could reportedly value it at up to $30 billion. That's more than three times what it was worth after its last funding round. The valuation increase likely reflects not only the company's recent revenue growth but also its growing presence in the artificial intelligence market.

Alphabet's CapitalG, Nvidia in talks to fund Vast Data at up to $30 billion valuation - The Economic Times

Alphabet's growth-stage venture arm CapitalG and Nvidia are in talks to invest in artificial intelligence infrastructure provider Vast Data in a new funding round that could value the startup as high as $30 billion, two sources said. The startup is raising several billion dollars from tech giants, private equity and venture capital investors, which could make it one of the most valuable AI startups, the two sources with knowledge of the matter said, as companies building the backbone for the AI boom come into sharper focus. CapitalG and existing backer Nvidia are in discussions to participate in the round, which could close in the next few weeks, according to the sources, who requested anonymity to speak on private matters. New York-headquartered Vast Data develops storage technology specifically designed for large AI data centers, enabling efficient data movement between graphics processors (GPUs) made by the likes of Nvidia. Its clients include companies such as Elon Musk's xAI and CoreWeave, and its value in the AI supply chain makes it an attractive acquisition target, bankers and analysts said. Nvidia declined to comment, while Vast Data and CapitalG did not respond to requests for comment. TechCrunch earlier reported Vast Data's fundraising efforts, but the valuation of up to $30 billion and the expected involvement of CapitalG and Nvidia have not been reported previously. Vast Data CEO Renen Halak has said the company is free cash flow positive. The company earned $200 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) by January 2025, with a strong backlog of orders and projections to grow ARR to $600 million next year, according to a separate source familiar with its financials. The company has raised roughly $380 million to date, and its last funding round in 2023 valued it at $9.1 billion. Vast Data has said it would consider an initial public offering at the right time. While no listing is imminent, according to another source familiar with the matter, investors and bankers view the data infrastructure firm as a likely IPO candidate. Vast Data last year hired Amy Shapero, its first chief financial officer, who was previously in the same role at publicly listed ecommerce giant Shopify, in a move that could signal preparations for an IPO. Mergers and acquisitions activity has also been heating up in the sector, and Nvidia has been acquiring companies that add complementary software and hardware products beyond its flagship GPUs. In 2020, it bought networking chip and cable maker Mellanox, which has helped Nvidia build integrated systems featuring its latest Blackwell chips. It has also acquired software companies such as Run:ai, which helps engineers optimize data center AI hardware. Vast Data's storage architecture is based on a system of flash storage devices and other off-the-shelf hardware, combined with its specialized software for data access and movement. The company says adopting its technology can reduce the cost of building and running large AI models. Several early-stage companies, such as Weka and DDN, are pursuing similar efforts, but analysts and industry executives say Vast Data's technology is more mature than that of its rivals.