VAST Data is in talks with investors for a new round of financing. This would bring the company’s valuation to $30 billion, placing VAST Data among the most valuable AI startups worldwide.
According to Reuters and TechCrunch, Alphabet’s investment fund CapitalG and chip manufacturer Nvidia are in talks to participate in this capital round.
The capital round, which the parties are likely to finalize within a few weeks, is attracting interest from major technology companies, venture capitalists, and private equity firms. This underscores the market’s recognition of the importance of companies that provide fundamental technology for training and running AI models.
VAST Data develops infrastructure (particularly storage) optimized for large-scale AI data centers. The systems are designed to accelerate data exchange between GPUs, such as those from Nvidia. This makes the company attractive to customers such as xAI and cloud specialist CoreWeave.
According to experts, VAST Data is an interesting acquisition candidate because of its strategic position in the AI chain. Nvidia has acquired companies in the past to expand its offering beyond GPUs, including networking company Mellanox and AI software platform Run:ai.
VAST Data is growing rapidly
Although the company itself has not responded to the recent reports, it is clear that VAST Data has been growing strongly since 2023. In January of this year, its annual recurring revenue stood at $200 million, with expectations that this will triple to $600 million next year. The company is profitable based on free cash flow and has raised approximately $380 million in previous rounds.
VAST Data has also taken steps towards a possible IPO. For example, an experienced CFO with a background in listed companies was recently appointed. Although a listing is not on the agenda in the short term, the company is seen by insiders as a serious IPO candidate.
Shares in Nvidia and Alphabet fell slightly on the day of the news. However, the investment interest confirms that infrastructure players such as VAST Data are central to the further rollout of (generative) AI.
Read also: VAST further expands Data Platform: InsightEngine makes all RAG data available in real time