Funding intent and investor profile
DDN is preparing to seek new capital before year-end, but with an emphasis on the type of backers it attracts rather than immediate balance-sheet needs, Chief Executive Officer Alex Bouzari said in remarks at the Bloomberg Generative AI Forum in New York. Bouzari described the company's aim as recruiting investors who can help better convey the value DDN delivers to its customers - strategic partners who can contribute perspective and expertise.
What Bouzari said
At the forum, Bouzari said the company is not raising money out of necessity. Instead, the objective is to add "savvy, sophisticated, smart people into our circle," reflecting a preference for investors who "see the world through a different lens."
Customers, partners and recent backing
DDN, headquartered in Chatsworth, California, lists Nvidia Corp. as a partner and counts Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Salesforce Inc. among its customers. The company has attracted institutional capital in the recent past - last year Blackstone Inc. invested $300 million at a $5 billion valuation.
Business direction and corporate milestones
Founded in 1998, DDN has operated profitably as a private company for more than a decade. In a bid to accelerate growth and move closer to a public listing, the company appointed a chief financial officer and a chief operating officer less than four months ago. The business has been shifting its emphasis away from selling high-performance storage primarily for supercomputers and toward servicing AI data centers, where its products are intended to speed access to data and bolster the performance of chips such as Nvidia's.
Outstanding questions
While DDN has signaled plans for another funding round, the company and Bouzari have not disclosed how a new round might be priced. It remains unclear what valuation a fresh financing would place on the business.
Conclusion
DDN is pursuing additional capital with a strategic investor focus, aiming to complement its existing partnerships and customer relationships as it reorients toward AI-focused infrastructure. Key operational moves and prior institutional backing position the company for growth, but details about valuation and the composition of new investors remain unspecified.