Databricks has closed a $5 billion funding round led by Coatue, with participation from Blackstone, MGX, T. Rowe Price affiliates, new investor Sixth Street Growth, and roughly two dozen other venture firms, pushing the company’s valuation to $190 billion. Co-founder and CEO Ali Ghodsi said the company originally intended to raise just $1 billion, but investor interest surged dramatically after a report about the fundraise circulated during the company’s June conference, generating what Ghodsi described as $15 billion in interest from a select group of investors alone.
Ghodsi said Databricks has reached $7 billion in annualized run rate revenue, growing at 80% and cash-flow positive, with its core cloud data warehouse product contributing $1.5 billion of that total and continuing to grow at 100% year-over-year. The company’s AI-focused offerings, including its agent database Lakebase and business analysis tool Genie, have also gained significant traction since launching.
Ghodsi attributed the need for additional capital to the high cost of AI infrastructure and research, including multibillion-dollar commitments with major cloud providers and an expanding research team, as well as ongoing acquisitions, including a recent purchase of Electric, maker of the PGlite database. Databricks has now raised $20 billion over the past 20 months, with Ghodsi maintaining plans to eventually pursue a public listing.
Featured image: Credit: Databricks
