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Databricks wanted to raise $1B, investors wanted $15B. It settled on $5B at a $190B valuation.
TechCrunch • • business
Key Points:
- Databricks raised $5 billion in its latest funding round, pushing its valuation to $190 billion, led by Coatue and including investors like Blackstone, T. Rowe Price, and Sixth Street Growth.
- The company initially planned to raise $1 billion but increased the amount due to overwhelming investor interest sparked by a media report during its June conference.
- Databricks reported $7 billion in annualized revenue, growing at 80%, with a cloud data warehouse segment growing 100% year-over-year, and its AI products, including Lakebase and Genie, gaining significant traction.
- Despite already raising $20 billion over 20 months, Databricks continues to seek capital to fund expensive AI research, cloud commitments, and ongoing acquisitions, including recent purchases of Electric and Panther.
- CEO Ali Ghodsi expressed intentions to eventually take the company public but currently prefers private fundraising to focus on AI investments and leverage strong investor demand.
