VAST Data
Company type | Privately held company |
---|---|
Industry | Computer Software |
Founded | January 2016 |
Founder |
|
Key people | Renen Hallak, co-founder and CEO Shachar Fienblit,co-founder and VP R&D Jeff Denworth, co-founder Michael Wing, president |
Website | vastdata |
VAST Data is a privately held technology company focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning computing infrastructure.[1][2] Founded in 2016, VAST has offices in the United States, UK, France, Germany, Australia.[3] The company offers a data computing platform that allows users to train AI models by storing and synthesizing large amounts of unstructured data.[4][5][6]
History
VAST Data was founded in 2016 by Renen Hallak, the former head of R&D at XtremIO (acquired in 2012 by Dell EMC),[7][8] Shachar Fienblit, formerly of Kaminario, and Jeff Denworth, formerly of CTERA Networks.[9][3] Mike Wing, formerly of Dell EMC, serves as company president.[3][10]
In February 2019 VAST emerged from stealth mode, announcing $80 million of funding and the launch of its Universal Storage software built on a distributed systems architecture developed by VAST called DASE (Disaggregated and Shared Everything).[11] [9]A scale-out unstructured data storage designed to eliminate tiered storage, Universal Storage was awarded the 2019 Gold Medal Product of the Year from TechTarget.[12]
In April 2021, VAST moved to a software licensing model called Gemini that enables customers to separate the hardware purchasing cycle from the software licensing cost.[13]
In May 2021 VAST closed its Series D funding round, raising $83 million at a post-money valuation of $3.7 billion, tripling its valuation from April 2020.[14][15][16]
VAST ranked No. 5 on the 2022 Deloitte Technology Fast 500[17] and No. 3 on the 2023 Financial Times list of The Americas’ Fastest-Growing Companies, based on VAST’s fiscal revenue growth from 2018 to 2021.[18] VAST Data also was included in Fast Company’s list of the 10 most innovative companies in data science of 2023, as well as Forbes’s America’s Best Startup Employers.[19]
In March 2023 the company announced it had exceeded $100 million in ARR within three years of selling.[20]
In May 2023 VAST VAST was certified as an Nvidia SuperPOD data store.[21]
In April 2023 VAST entered into a partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise to provide software for HPE GreenLake for File Storage.[22]
In May 2023 VAST was certified as an Nvidia SuperPOD data store.[23]
On August 1, 2023 VAST announced the launch of the VAST Data Platform, which offers storage, database, and compute engine services, and is designed to accelerate AI-enabled research.[24]
Funding
As of August 2023, VAST Data has raised $263 million in funding.[25]
In February 2019 VAST announced it had raised $80M of funding in two rounds, backed by Norwest Venture Partners, Dell Technologies Capital, 83 North, Goldman Sachs and a TPG Growth-sponsored investment platform.[11] Other investors to date include Tiger Global Management, Commonfund, Greenfield, Next47, Norwest, and NVIDIA. VAST announced in May 2023 it has been cash flow positive since 2020.[20]
Series | Date | Amount (million $) | Lead Investor(s) |
A | 2016 | 15 | 83North, Norwest |
A1 | 2018 | 25 | Dell Technologies Capital, 83North, Norwest |
B | 2019 | 40 | Greenfield, 83North, Norwest |
C | 2020 | 100 | Next47 |
D | 2021 | 83 | Tiger Global Management |
Product
The VAST Data Platform is a unified global datastore, database, and AI computing engine comprising the following features:[26]
- VAST DataStore (formerly known as Universal Storage), an unstructured data storage solution
- VAST DataBase, a database management system (DBMS) that includes the constructs of a traditional database, data warehouse, and data lake
- VAST DataEngine (scheduled to be generally available in 2024), a global function execution engine
- VAST DataSpace, a global namespace that permits every location to store, retrieve, and process data
The platform is deployable in on-premises data centers, public clouds, and edge and ruggedized environments, and is delivered as a subscription-based service.
Operations
As of February 2022 VAST operates in the United States, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Israel, Turkey, Czech Republic, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and Korea, with further expansion planned across EMEA with Benelux, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and the Nordics, and in Asia with Japan.[27]
VAST partners with several distribution partners worldwide, including AHEAD, CDI, Carahsoft, Spinnaker, Arrow Electronics, Logicom, TechData, and ASI.[28][27]
VAST is a remote-first company with offices in New York City; Durham, North Carolina; Campbell, California; and Yafo, Israel.[3]
References
- ^ Mellor, Chris (February 26, 2019). "VAST Data: The first thing we do, let's kill all the hard drives". Blocks and Files.
- ^ Miller, Ron (April 16, 2020). "TechCrunch".
- ^ a b c d Mellor, Chris (February 26, 2019). "VAST Data's business sitrep". Blocks and Files.
- ^ Coughlin, Tom (March 1, 2019). "VAST Storage Dreams". Forbes.
- ^ Adshead, Antony. "QLC + 3D Xpoint = Vast Data's universal storage". Computer Weekly.
- ^ Williams, Joe (April 17, 2020). "Business Insider".
- ^ "EMC buys XtremIO for $430m - Globes". en.globes.co.il. 2012-05-10. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ Kovar, Joseph F. (April 16, 2020). "Renen Hallak Talks Future". CRN.
- ^ a b Wilson, Alexandra (April 16, 2020). "VAST Data Gets $1.2 Billion Valuation, As Researchers Race To Combat COVID-19". Forbes.
- ^ "Mike Wing, Vast Data Inc: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ a b Robinson, Daniel (2019-06-05). "VAST Data guarantees no downtime, no data loss". Blocks and Files. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ "Enterprise data storage 2019 Products of the Year finalists | TechTarget". Storage. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ "VAST Data goes software-only - what does this mean for customers?". Architecting IT. 2021-04-08. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
- ^ Orbach, Meir (2021-05-04). "VAST Data raises $83 million series D, tripling valuation to $3.7 billion in just one year". CTECH - www.calcalistech.com. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ Elder, Jeff. "Here's why a key investor in Snowflake and UiPath is betting big on VAST Data, a hot startup that tripled its valuation in a year to $3.7 billion". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ Costa, Cameron (May 5, 2020). "Start-up gets $1 billion valuation virtually, as coronavirus shifts Silicon Valley hunt for IPO riches". CNBC.
- ^ "2022 Technology Fast 500™ Rankings" (PDF). deloitte.com.
- ^ "FT ranking: The Americas' Fastest-Growing Companies 2023". 2023-03-28. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ "America's Best Startup Employers 2023". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ a b "Lenovo and Vast Data credit channel for growth". MicroScope. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ staff (2023-05-17). "VAST Data Achieves NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD Certification". High-Performance Computing News Analysis | insideHPC. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ "Vast dips into HPE GreenLake with new file storage service | TechTarget". Storage. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ Mellor, Chris (2023-05-17). "VAST Data and Nvidia form SuperPOD squad". Blocks and Files. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
- ^ Hampton, Jaime (2023-08-04). "Vast Data Boosts AI Infrastructure with New Unified Data Platform". EnterpriseAI. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ "NVIDIA invests in VAST Data's $83M D round, and bumps its valuation to $3.7B". Geektime. 2021-05-04. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ Morgan, Timothy Prickett (2023-08-01). "Vast Data Intentionally Blurs The Line Between Storage And Database - The Next Platform". www.nextplatform.com. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ a b "Distribution underpinning VAST Data's EMEA expansion plans". MicroScope. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ Salamone, Salvatore (2023-10-01). "Real-time Analytics News for the Week Ending September 30". RTInsights. Retrieved 2023-11-15.