TL;DR:
- New York-based startup Vast Data secures $118 million in Series E funding led by Fidelity Ventures.
- The round values Vast at $9.1 billion post-money, with a total raised of $381 million.
- Vast Data offers scalable, unstructured data storage solutions, eliminating tiered storage complexities.
- Growing interest in AI drives Vast Data’s success, with a focus on modern infrastructure.
- The company unifies storage, database, and compute engine services for AI and GPU-accelerated workloads.
- Annual recurring revenue stands at $200 million, with impressive year-over-year growth and positive cash flow.
- Expansion plans include targeting Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Europe.
- Vast Data’s unique software approach to commodity hardware shields it from supply chain disruptions.
Main AI News:
In a significant move, New York-based startup Vast Data has successfully secured $118 million in funding during a Series E round led by Fidelity Ventures, with notable participation from key players including New Enterprise Associates, BOND Capital, Drive Capital, Nvidia, Dell, Goldman Sachs, Tiger Global, Commonfund, Norwest, 83North, Greenfield, and Next47. This latest round has elevated Vast Data’s post-money valuation to an impressive $9.1 billion and brings the total amount raised by the company to $381 million.
Vast Data specializes in providing a scalable, unstructured data storage solution designed to eliminate the complexities of tiered storage systems that involve data movement between high-cost and low-cost storage hardware. This strategic funding injection is poised to further bolster Vast Data’s position in the market, thanks to the growing interest in AI and the increasing demand for modern infrastructure capable of supporting these data-intensive workloads.
Renen Hallak, Co-founder and CEO of Vast Data, commented on the company’s trajectory, stating, “The explosion of interest in AI and the need for modern infrastructure that can support these workloads in the last year has been a boon for Vast’s business and positions the company for continued growth and adoption with the enterprise. Given the future-proof nature of Vast’s offering, data-driven organizations see Vast as a valuable investment in the future of their business.”
Vast Data was founded in 2016 by a team of visionary individuals, including Renen Hallak, Jeff Denworth, Shachar Fienblit, and Alon Horev, each bringing their unique expertise to the table. Their shared vision was to create a next-generation data management platform leveraging commodity hardware to provide faster access to larger datasets for AI workloads. The company operated in stealth mode until 2019, when it began offering its solutions to customers.
Today, Vast Data stands out by unifying storage, database, and compute engine services within a comprehensive platform designed to empower AI and GPU-accelerated workloads across datacenters and cloud environments. This versatile solution enables customers to seamlessly manage both unstructured and structured data across their preferred private, public, or hybrid clouds, encompassing various data types such as videos, images, text, data streams, and edge device data.
Hallak emphasized the inefficiencies of stitching together legacy enterprise infrastructure, highlighting that it is a time-consuming and complex endeavor, resulting in significant expenses. He stated, “The legacy cloud recipe for building AI infrastructure comprises disparate technologies that, due to their underlying architecture, don’t take full advantage of modern technologies that offer improved performance, simplified operations and cost-savings… Without the right infrastructure in place, organizations can’t efficiently enable their AI and GPU-powered investments with the data access needed for AI and deep learning.”
Although Vast Data faces competition from vendors like Databricks, Hallak confidently asserts that the company holds a substantial first-mover advantage, a claim supported by the company’s impressive financial performance. Vast Data’s annual recurring revenue has reached an impressive $200 million, and the company is experiencing a remarkable 3.3x year-over-year growth rate. Moreover, the company has achieved positive cash flow over the past year and has expanded its customer base to include renowned brands such as Pixar and Zoom.
With a global team of over 700 employees, Vast Data has ambitious expansion plans, focusing on strengthening its presence in the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Europe. Hallak also noted that Vast Data’s unique position as a software company operating on commodity hardware has shielded it from the supply chain disruptions and challenges that have affected many businesses in recent years.
Conclusion:
Vast Data’s latest funding round, combined with its robust performance and strategic partnerships, positions the company as a prominent player in the AI-centric data storage solutions space. The investment will further advance Vast Data’s mission to revolutionize infrastructure by placing data at the forefront of system thinking, reactivity, and discovery.
