Vast Data, a nine-year-old startup offering an AI-friendly data storage platform, is seeking a new funding round that could value the company at $25 billion (10/6).

This would mark a significant jump from the $9 billion valuation Vast achieved during its Series E round in December 2023, according to a source close to the deal.

The deal is not finalized, and terms including valuation could still change.

Many venture capitalists are watching Vast closely. Vast did not respond to requests for comment.

Startup’s Unified Storage Architecture Attracts Enterprise Customers

Vast’s platform combines data management software with unified CPU, GPU, and storage hardware from vendors like Supermicro, HPE, and Cisco.

Unlike traditional tiered storage, which separates data by frequency of use, Vast eliminates tiers to focus on flash storage.

The platform stores structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data in one place, speeding data retrieval and reducing costs for AI model training and inference.

Its clients include Pixar, ServiceNow, and xAI, as well as next-gen AI cloud providers CoreWeave and Lambda, who use Vast’s technology to offer storage services to their users.

Strong Financial Growth Demonstrates Market Fit

At the time of its Series E round about 18 months ago, Vast had $200 million in annual recurring revenue.

CEO and co-founder Renen Hallak said on a podcast last May that the startup is growing between 2.5x and 3x year-over-year and has been free cash flow positive for four years.

Startup Competes with Established Storage Companies

Vast competes with Pure Storage, a 16-year-old publicly traded company with a market cap near $17 billion, and Weka, which raised $140 million last year at a $1.6 billion valuation.

The startup is also developing a database architecture to compete with Databricks.

Prior to this funding round, Vast raised $381 million from investors including Fidelity Management & Research Company, NEA, BOND Capital, and Drive Capital.

PHOTO: TECHEDT/VAST DATA

This article was created with AI assistance.