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The undisclosed deal would bring PEAK AIO’s AI storage technology into NetApp, with founder Mark Klarzynski pointing to the US group’s global reach.
By Claire Dubois, Consumer & Retail Reporter · Paris
29 September 2026 · Reported from BusinessCloud
US data platform company NetApp has agreed to acquire Manchester-based PEAK AIO, BusinessCloud reports. The Nasdaq-listed buyer has not disclosed the acquisition price for the AI storage business.
Pembroke VCT plc, the London-listed venture capital trust that invested in PEAK AIO, expects the transaction to deliver a significant return for its shareholders, according to BusinessCloud. The report does not give a return multiple or the value of Pembroke’s investment.
Founded in Manchester by Mark Klarzynski, PEAK AIO develops infrastructure for data-intensive computing. BusinessCloud reports that its technology combines a new metadata architecture with a high-performance parallel file system, designed to let shared storage grow in step with the GPU clusters used for AI workloads.
The storage focus places PEAK AIO in a different part of the AI infrastructure market from companies financing computing capacity. Market Entry Wire previously reported that Nscale secured $3.36bn in convertible funding ahead of a planned US IPO, another example of a business pursuing capital to support its AI infrastructure ambitions.
Klarzynski’s argument for purpose-built AI storage centres on cost as well as scale. In comments reported by BusinessCloud, he said systems inherited from earlier computing generations could not meet the practical demands of AI projects at the required price point.
The founder also identified NetApp’s international reach and customers’ confidence in its ONTAP technology as reasons for joining the group. According to BusinessCloud, Klarzynski believes that combination can help take PEAK AIO’s architecture into the largest AI computing environments. He thanked Pembroke for its support of the company.
Fred Ursell, head of investments at Pembroke Investment Managers and a PEAK AIO director, presented the agreement as evidence of the value of backing British founders early and supporting them through growth. BusinessCloud reported that Ursell regarded PEAK AIO’s progress as demonstrating what British technology businesses can achieve with patient backing and room to develop.
The acquisition still needs to satisfy customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, BusinessCloud reports. No completion date is given in the supplied reporting, so the agreement should not be treated as a completed takeover.
For companies assessing expansion into the UK or Europe, the transaction illustrates acquisition as a possible route to locally developed specialist technology. It is not, however, an announcement of a new office, additional jobs or entry into a named country: the supplied reporting sets out no such commitments. The immediate milestone is completion of the ownership transaction, rather than a separately announced geographical launch.
For companies looking at the UK’s AI infrastructure market, PEAK AIO highlights the role of specialist storage technology alongside computing capacity. NetApp’s proposed acquisition offers one example of how an international buyer can seek access to a British-developed platform, while giving its developer a potential route to larger customers. That opportunity remains conditional: regulatory approvals and other closing requirements must be met, and no country-specific expansion programme has been announced in the supplied reporting.
Source
Original reporting by BusinessCloud. This report was written independently for Market Entry Wire.
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