Blackstone, SoftBank Said In Talks For Stakes In India Cloud Startup Neysa

Blackstone Inc. and SoftBank Group Corp. are in early talks to buy stakes in Neysa Networks Pvt., an Indian cloud infrastructure startup, according to people familiar with the matter.

The US alternative asset manager is evaluating a majority holding, while SoftBank is considering a minority stake, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private. No final decisions have been made, and other investors could participate, they said.

Founded in 2023 by Sharad Sanghi and Anindya Das, Neysa provides cloud-computing infrastructure to run artificial intelligence models on demand. The startup has raised about $50 million from investors including Z47 — formerly known as Matrix Partners India — and Nexus Venture Partners, according to information on its website.

Blackstone declined to comment. Representatives for SoftBank and Neysa didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The investment could value Neysa at less than $300 million, though any investor would likely need to commit additional capital to fund expansion, the people said.

Investment Surge

Investors worldwide are pouring billions into capital-intensive data centers to support the rapid growth of AI services. The momentum continues even as some question whether the industry is overbuilding around a technology that has yet to yield consistent profits.

A SoftBank deal would mark the Japanese conglomerate’s first new investment in India in more than three years. For Blackstone, a potential transaction would bolster its digital infrastructure portfolio in the country, where it’s been expanding real estate and infrastructure bets.

Blackstone’s head of private equity in Asia, Amit Dixit, said in 2024 that data centers remain a key growth focus. The firm already backs Lumina CloudInfra in India, and AirTrunk, the Australian data center operator it acquired, has announced plans to build its next facility in India.

In 2023, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and Digital Realty formed a venture with Reliance Industries Ltd., while Google and Adani Enterprises Ltd. last month announced plans to invest $15 billion in Indian data centers.