Nvidia Corp. has acquired SwiftStack Inc., the maker of an object data storage and management platform for data-intensive applications and workflows, for an undisclosed sum.

Founded in 2011, SwiftStack offers cloud-based software to manage cloud storage for enterprises, simplifying on-premises infrastructure while enabling the scale of performance and capacity offered by the public cloud. The company started offering its SwiftStack Data Platform for artificial intelligence, high-performance computing and accelerated computing in 2019, including the SwiftStack 1space that enables data acceleration at the core, edge and in the cloud.

Nvidia and SwiftStack worked together for more than a year on solving data challenges to enable AI at scale, leading to the acquisition announced today.

Existing SwiftStack customers will continue to be supported, notable among them PayPay Holdings Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., DC Blox Inc., Snapfish and Verizon Communications Inc., Nvidia plans on merging the technology into its existing AI stacks.

The acquisition is part of a broader strategy by Nvidia to provide a full stack of software to applications without becoming a storage provider itself.

“We are not a storage vendor. We do not intend to be a storage vendor. We’re not in the business of selling storage in any form,” Manuvir Das, Nvidia’s head of enterprise computing, told TechTarget. “We work very closely with our storage partners. This acquisition is designed to further the integration between different storage technologies and the work we do for AI.”

Das added that Nvidia recognized many years ago that it needed to provide customer more than simply a graphics processing unit or a software library, instead helping them create the entire stack, all the way from the GPU up to the applications themselves. “If you look at Nvidia now, we spend most of our energy on the software for different kinds of AI applications,” he said.

SwiftStack had raised $23.6 million in funding, according to Crunchbase. Investors included OpenView, Storm Ventures, Mayfield Fund and UMC Capital. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the coming weeks subject to customary closing conditions.

The news comes as Nvidia continues to work on its $6.9 billion acquisition of network equipment supplier Mellanox Technologies Ltd. announced in March 2019.  The deal received approval to proceed from the European Union in December after also receiving the nod from U.S. regulators.

The deal is currently waiting for approval from China. As of Feb. 19, the deal had been refiled with Chinese authorities with an outside approval date of March 10 and a possible extension to June 10.

Image: SwiftStack