Blackstone Invests $300 Million in DDN at $5 Billion Valuation to Accelerate AI Growth
DDN, a global leader in AI and data intelligence solutions, announced a $300 million investment from Blackstone Tactical Opportunities at a valuation of $5 billion. The funding will support DDN’s rapid growth as it addresses the increasing demand for AI and high-performance computing infrastructure and software.
Founded in 1998, DDN has established itself as a critical partner for organizations leveraging AI and HPC technologies. The company’s solutions power over 500,000 NVIDIA GPUs, serving industries such as financial services, life sciences, and the public sector, alongside AI hyperscalers like xAI and Lambda.
DDN’s high-performance data intelligence platform is essential for enabling rapid data analysis, real-time processing, and low-latency operations. These capabilities drive the efficiency of large-scale language models, generative AI, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) applications.
“Blackstone’s support accelerates our mission to redefine the enterprise AI infrastructure category and scale at an even faster rate,” said Alex Bouzari, CEO and Co-Founder of DDN. “By pushing the boundaries of data intelligence, we aim to empower organizations globally with next-level AI solutions that deliver groundbreaking innovation and significant ROI.”
The investment underscores DDN’s role as a leading provider of scalable, secure AI infrastructure designed to optimize performance and cost efficiency. The company’s platform enhances GPU utilization, enabling faster deployment of enterprise AI applications for predictive analytics, operational improvements, and customer-facing solutions.
Paul Bloch, President and Co-Founder of DDN, emphasized the company’s focus on real-world AI solutions. “This investment enables us to execute our strategy to bring enterprise-grade AI solutions to companies of all sizes, transforming industries and delivering measurable outcomes. We are laser-focused on solving business challenges like accelerating LLM deployments and enhancing inferencing, helping customers unlock their data’s potential.”
Blackstone’s commitment to AI-driven digital infrastructure aligns with its larger strategy. The investment firm is the largest data center provider globally, with assets across the U.S., Europe, India, and Japan. Recent investments, including CoreWeave, a cloud infrastructure pioneer for AI, further solidify Blackstone’s position in driving transformative AI advancements.
Jas Khaira, Head of Blackstone Tactical Opportunities, Americas, highlighted the partnership’s potential: “DDN’s solutions are trusted by many of the most important AI companies in the world and are critical to the next phase of transformative AI deployments. We are thrilled to help strengthen DDN’s market leadership in high-intensity AI workloads.”
