Adds share move in paragraph 17

By Krystal Hu, Max A. Cherney and Milana Vinn

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Alphabet's GOOGL.O growth-stage venture arm CapitalG and Nvidia NVDA.O are in talks to invest in artificial intelligence infrastructure provider Vast Data in a new funding round that could value the startup as high as $30 billion, two sources said.

The startup is raising several billion dollars from tech giants, private equity and venture capital investors, which could make it one of the most valuable AI startups, the two sources with knowledge of the matter said, as companies building the backbone for the AI boom come into sharper focus.

CapitalG and existing backer Nvidia are in discussions to participate in the round, which could close in the next few weeks, according to the sources, who requested anonymity to speak on private matters.

New York-headquartered Vast Data develops storage technology specifically designed for large AI data centers, enabling efficient data movement between graphics processors (GPUs) made by the likes of Nvidia.

Its clients include companies such as Elon Musk's xAI and CoreWeave CRWV.O, and its value in the AI supply chain makes it an attractive acquisition target, bankers and analysts said.

Nvidia declined to comment, while Vast Data and CapitalG did not respond to requests for comment.

TechCrunch earlier reported Vast Data's fundraising efforts, but the valuation of up to $30 billion and the expected involvement of CapitalG and Nvidia have not been reported previously.

Vast Data CEO Renen Halak has said the company is free cash flow positive. The company earned $200 million in annual recurring revenue $(ARR)$ by January 2025, with a strong backlog of orders and projections to grow ARR to $600 million next year, according to a separate source familiar with its financials.

The company has raised roughly $380 million to date, and its last funding round in 2023 valued it at $9.1 billion.

Vast Data has said it would consider an initial public offering at the right time.

While no listing is imminent, according to another source familiar with the matter, investors and bankers view the data infrastructure firm as a likely IPO candidate.

Vast Data last year hired Amy Shapero, its first chief financial officer, who was previously in the same role at publicly listed e-commerce giant Shopify SHOP.TO, in a move that could signal preparations for an IPO.

Mergers and acquisitions activity has also been heating up in the sector, and Nvidia has been acquiring companies that add complementary software and hardware products beyond its flagship GPUs.

In 2020, it bought networking chip and cable maker Mellanox, which has helped Nvidia build integrated systems featuring its latest Blackwell chips. It has also acquired software companies such as Run:ai, which helps engineers optimize data center AI hardware.

Vast Data’s storage architecture is based on a system of flash storage devices and other off-the-shelf hardware, combined with its specialized software for data access and movement. The company says adopting its technology can reduce the cost of building and running large AI models.

Several companies, such as Weka and DDN, are pursuing similar efforts, but analysts and industry executives say Vast Data's technology is more mature than that of its rivals.

Shares of Nvidia slumped 2.3% and Alphabet stock sunk 1.4% during regular trading on Friday.

(Reporting by Max A. Cherney in San Francisco and Krystal Hu and Milana Vinn in New York; Additional reporting by Kenrick Cai in San Francisco and Echo Wang in New York; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh, Jamie Freed and Diane Craft)

((max.cherney@thomsonreuters.com; 415-404-2697; @chernandburn on Twitter/X))