Blackstone backs Neysa in up to $1.2B financing as India pushes to build domestic AI infrastructure

Neysa, an Indian AI infrastructure startup, has gained investment from U.S. private equity firm Blackstone as it enhances its domestic computing capacity during India’s initiative to cultivate indigenous AI capabilities.

Blackstone, along with co-investors such as Teachers’ Venture Growth, TVS Capital, 360 ONE Asset, and Nexus Venture Partners, has committed up to $600 million in primary equity to Neysa, granting Blackstone a majority stake, as reported by Blackstone and Neysa to ToolsMixAi. The Mumbai-based startup also intends to secure an additional $600 million in debt financing to enhance its GPU capacity, a significant rise from the $50 million it had raised earlier.

This investment arrives as global demand for AI computing skyrockets, leading to supply shortages of specialized chips and data center capacity essential for training and operating large models. New AI-focused infrastructure providers — often known as “neo-clouds” — have emerged to fill this void by offering dedicated GPU resources and faster deployment than conventional hyperscalers, especially for enterprises and AI labs with specific regulatory, latency, or customization needs.

Neysa operates in this evolving sector, positioning itself as a provider of tailored, GPU-centric infrastructure for enterprises, government entities, and AI developers in India, where the demand for local computing is emerging but growing quickly.

“Many customers require guidance, and they want 24/7 support with a 15-minute response time and quick resolutions. These are the kinds of services we offer that some hyperscalers do not,” commented Neysa co-founder and CEO Sharad Sanghi.

Ganesh Mani, a senior managing director at Blackstone Private Equity, noted that the firm estimates India currently has fewer than 60,000 GPUs installed — and anticipates this number to rise nearly 30 times to over two million in the upcoming years.

This growth is fueled by government demand, companies in regulated industries like financial services and healthcare that must keep data local, and AI developers creating models within India, according to Mani. Global AI laboratories, many of which consider India one of their largest user bases, are also increasingly interested in deploying computing resources closer to users to minimize latency and comply with data regulations.

The investment further supports Blackstone’s wider strategy in data center and AI infrastructure on a global scale. The firm has previously funded extensive data center platforms like QTS and AirTrunk, in addition to specialized AI infrastructure providers such as CoreWeave in the U.S. and Firmus in Australia.

Neysa creates and manages GPU-driven AI infrastructure that empowers enterprises, researchers, and public sector clients to train, refine, and deploy AI models locally. The startup has approximately 1,200 GPUs operational and aims to significantly increase that capacity, targeting deployments of over 20,000 GPUs as customer demand grows.

“We are witnessing demand that will lead us to triple our capacity next year,” Sanghi stated. “Several discussions we are currently having are at advanced stages; if they proceed, we could see results sooner rather than later — possibly within the next nine months.”

Sanghi informed ToolsMixAi that most of the new capital will be allocated to deploying large GPU clusters, including compute, networking, and storage, while a smaller fraction will focus on research and development, along with enhancing Neysa’s software platforms for orchestration, observability, and security.

Neysa aims to triple its revenue in the coming year as demand for AI workloads increases, with plans to expand beyond India in the future, Sanghi noted. Founded in 2023, the startup employs 110 staff across offices in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai.