Neysa, an Indian AI infrastructure startup, has successfully secured significant backing from U.S. private equity firm Blackstone, marking a pivotal moment in its efforts to dramatically scale domestic compute capacity. This investment comes amidst India's strategic push to develop its own indigenous AI capabilities. Blackstone, alongside a consortium of co-investors including Teachers’ Venture Growth, TVS Capital, 360 ONE Asset, and Nexus Venture Partners, has committed up to $600 million of primary equity in Neysa. This substantial investment will grant Blackstone a majority stake in the Mumbai-headquartered startup, as confirmed by both Blackstone and Neysa to TechCrunch.

In addition to the equity infusion, Neysa is also planning to raise an extra $600 million in debt financing. This combined capital will enable a sharp increase in its GPU capacity, significantly expanding upon the $50 million it had previously raised. This financial move is strategically timed to address the escalating global demand for AI computing, which has led to widespread supply constraints for specialized chips and the data center capacity essential for training and running large AI models. A new category of AI-focused infrastructure providers, often dubbed “neo-clouds,” has emerged to bridge this critical gap. These providers specialize in offering dedicated GPU capacity and faster deployment solutions compared to traditional hyperscalers, catering specifically to enterprises and AI labs with unique regulatory, latency, or customization requirements.

Neysa operates within this burgeoning segment, strategically positioning itself as a premier provider of customized, GPU-first infrastructure tailored for enterprises, government agencies, and AI developers across India. The demand for local compute capacity in India is currently in its nascent stages but is experiencing rapid expansion. Sharad Sanghi, Neysa co-founder and CEO, highlighted the startup’s distinct advantage: "A lot of customers want hand-holding, and a lot of them want round-the-clock support with a 15-minute response and a couple of our resolutions. And so those are the kinds of things that we provide that some of the hyperscalers don’t." This emphasis on dedicated support and localized solutions differentiates Neysa in a competitive market.

Ganesh Mani, a senior managing director at Blackstone Private Equity, underscored the immense growth potential within the Indian market. He estimates that India currently utilizes fewer than 60,000 GPUs, a figure projected to scale nearly 30 times to surpass two million in the coming years. This anticipated expansion is fueled by several key factors: growing government demand, requirements from enterprises in regulated sectors like financial services and healthcare to maintain data locality, and the proliferation of AI developers building models within India. Furthermore, global AI labs, many of which consider India among their largest user bases, are increasingly seeking to deploy computing capacity closer to their users to minimize latency and comply with data residency requirements. This strategic investment in Neysa also aligns with Blackstone’s broader global strategy in data center and AI infrastructure, building on its prior successful backing of large-scale data center platforms such as QTS and AirTrunk, as well as specialized AI infrastructure providers like CoreWeave in the U.S. and Firmus in Australia.

Neysa is actively engaged in developing and operating advanced GPU-based AI infrastructure, empowering enterprises, researchers, and public sector clients to efficiently train, fine-tune, and deploy AI models locally. The startup currently boasts approximately 1,200 live GPUs and has ambitious plans for a sharp increase in this capacity, targeting deployments of more than 20,000 GPUs over time as customer demand rapidly accelerates. Sanghi further stated, "We are seeing a demand that we are going to more than triple our capacity next year." He added that some conversations are at an advanced stage, potentially leading to this expansion sooner, possibly within the next nine months. The bulk of the newly acquired capital will be allocated towards deploying large-scale GPU clusters, encompassing compute, networking, and storage components. A smaller, yet significant, portion will be dedicated to research and development and enhancing Neysa’s software platforms for orchestration, observability, and security.

With an accelerating demand for AI workloads, Neysa aims to more than triple its revenue in the coming year, with long-term ambitions to expand its operations beyond India. Founded in 2023, the startup currently employs 110 professionals across its offices located in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai, cementing its presence in India's key technological hubs.