Key insights
- DDN, a data hardware and software provider with strategic ties to Nvidia and customers like Google and Salesforce, is seeking new funding to add strategic investors. The company, which has been profitable and is shifting focus to AI data centers, is considering this move as a step towards a potential IPO. While the valuation is unclear, this indicates continued private market interest and investment in the AI infrastructure space, potentially signaling strong growth prospects for companies supporting AI development.
Investing.com - DDN, a data hardware and software provider, is looking to raise additional funding by the end of the year, Chief Executive Officer Alex Bouzari said in an interview with Bloomberg. The company counts Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) as a partner and Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google and Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) as customers.
Bouzari said Tuesday at the Bloomberg Generative AI Forum in New York that DDN is seeking investors that can help the company better reflect the value it creates for customers. The company wants to bring in more strategic investors who "see the world through a different lens," he said. "The intent is not bringing money into the company because we need it — it’s bringing more savvy, sophisticated, smart people into our circle."
Chatsworth, California-based DDN was founded in 1998 and has been running profitably as a private company for more than a decade. Less than four months ago, DDN named a CFO and COO in a step toward boosting growth and planning an initial public offering.
The company has been trying to shift from a seller of high-performance storage for supercomputers to focus on AI data centers where its products help customers access information quickly by bolstering the performance of chips like Nvidia’s. Last year, Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) invested $300 million in DDN at a $5 billion valuation.
It is unclear what a fresh funding round might value the company at.
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