By Krystal Hu
(Reuters) -AI startup Vast Data has signed a $1.17 billion commercial agreement with cloud provider CoreWeave, extending their existing partnership as demand for infrastructure that powers artificial intelligence systems grows, the company told Reuters.
Under the agreement, CoreWeave will use Vast as the primary data platform for its cloud infrastructure, which provides customers with access to graphics processing units (GPUs) for training and running AI models. Vast says such contracts typically span three to five years but declined to disclose detailed financial terms.
Vast Data builds software that helps companies store and process the large volumes of information used to train and run artificial intelligence systems, charging customers based on the capacity and features they use. The companies plan to align their product roadmaps to improve how data is stored and accessed for AI workloads to increase efficiency.
The expanded partnership enables Vast to work more closely with CoreWeave while continuing to serve other major customers.
Those include leading cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services and other so-called “neocloud” firms like Nebius, as well as AI labs such as Elon Musk’s xAI, Vast co-founder Jeff Denworth told Reuters in an interview.
The deal underscores the growing investment in the infrastructure underpinning generative AI, where companies like Nvidia-backed CoreWeave and software providers such as Vast play a central role.
The agreement provides a significant revenue stream for New York-based Vast Data, which has said it is free cash flow positive and reached $200 million in annual recurring revenue by January 2025.
It could also accelerate the company’s fundraising efforts. Reuters reported in August that Vast was in talks to raise several billion dollars in new capital at a valuation of up to $30 billion, with potential investors including Alphabet’s growth fund CapitalG and Nvidia.
Vast was last valued at $9.1 billion following a 2023 funding round. Investors see it as a potential IPO candidate after it hired former Shopify chief financial officer Amy Shapero last year.
(Reporting by Krystal Hu in San FranciscoEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
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