VAST Data is a privately held technology company focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning computing infrastructure.[1][2] Founded in 2016, the company offers a data computing platform that allows users to train AI models by storing and synthesizing large amounts of unstructured data.[3][4][5]
 | |
| 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 |
History
VAST Data was founded in 2016 by Renen Hallak, the former head of R&D at XtremIO (acquired in 2012 by Dell EMC),[6][7] Shachar Fienblit, formerly of Kaminario, and Jeff Denworth, formerly of CTERA Networks.[8][9] Mike Wing, formerly of Dell EMC, serves as company president.[9][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][8] A scale-out unstructured data storage solution 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]
VAST ranked No. 5 on the 2022 Deloitte Technology Fast 500[14] 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.[15] 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.[16]
In April 2023 VAST entered into a partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise to provide software for HPE GreenLake for File Storage.[17]
In May 2023 VAST was certified as an Nvidia SuperPOD data store.[18]
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.[19]
In December 2023 VAST announced it had surpassed $1 billion in cumulative software bookings; had surpassed $200 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR); and had maintained positive cash flow for the previous 12 quarters with a gross margin of nearly 90 percent.[20][21][22][23]
Funding
VAST Data has raised $381million in funding.[24]
On December 6, 2023 VAST announced a Series E funding round led by Fidelity Management and Research Co. that raised $118 million at a valuation of $9.1 billion.[25][26][27][28][29]
| 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 |
| E | 2023 | 118 | Fidelity Management and Research Co. |
Product
The VAST Data Platform is a unified global datastore, database, and AI computing engine comprising the following features:[30]
- 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.[31]
Operations
As of February 2022 VAST operates in the United States, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Israel, Turkey, Czech Republic, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, and Korea, with further expansion planned across EMEA with Benelux, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and the Nordics, and in Asia with Japan.[32]
VAST partners with several distribution partners worldwide, including Carahsoft, Arrow Electronics, Logicom, TechData, Climb Solutions, ASBIS and ASI[33][32]
VAST is a no-headquarters company with offices in New York City; Durham, North Carolina; Campbell, California; and Yafo, Israel.[9]