Data and AI company Databricks announced a Series J funding round today. The company is raising $10 billion of expected non-dilutive financing and has completed $8.6 billion. This funding values Databricks at $62 billion, and Thrive Capital is leading it. Along with Thrive, the funding round is co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global, GIC, Insight Partners, and WCM Investment Management. Other significant participants include existing investors Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and new investors ICONIQ Growth, MGX, Sands Capital, and Wellington Management.
The company has seen accelerated growth (over 60% year-over-year) in recent quarters, largely due to the unprecedented interest in AI. And to satisfy customer demand, Databricks plans to invest this capital towards new AI products, acquisitions, and significant expansion of its international go-to-market operations. In addition to fueling its growth, this capital is expected to provide liquidity for current and former employees and pay related taxes. Finally, this quarter marks the first time the company is expected to achieve positive free cash flow.
Databricks’ Data Intelligence Platform democratizes access to data and AI, making it easier for organizations to utilize the power of their data for analytics, machine learning, and AI applications. Built using an open-source foundation, the platform enables organizations to drive innovation to increase revenue, lower costs, and reduce risk. Customers use the Data Intelligence Platform to find and treat diseases and cancer earlier, identify new ways to combat climate change, detect financial fraud, develop pharmaceuticals faster, reduce time to mental health intervention, decrease local financial inequality, and more.
This announcement comes on the heels of Databricks’ recent momentum, which includes the following:
— Growing over 60% year-over-year in the third quarter
— Expecting to cross $3 billion revenue run-rate and be free cash flow positive in the fourth quarter ending January 31, 2025
— Continuing to achieve non-GAAP subscription gross margins above 80%
— Having 500+ customers consuming at over $1 million annual revenue run-rate
— Achieving $600 million revenue run rate for Databricks SQL, the company’s intelligent data warehousing product, up more than 150% year-over-year
Databricks also announced its new European regional hub in London and Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) regional hub in Singapore, as well as an expanded presence in Latin America and the Middle East.
KEY QUOTES:
“We were substantially oversubscribed with this round and are super excited to bring on some of the world’s most well-known investors who have a deep conviction in our vision. These are still the early days of AI. We are positioning the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform to deliver long-term value for our customers and our team is committed to helping companies across every industry build data intelligence. We’re building transformative data and AI infrastructure and excited to move aggressively in service of our customers and their success.”
- Ali Ghodsi, Co-Founder and CEO of Databricks
“Databricks, driven by its mission to democratize data and AI, has emerged as the platform of choice. We have witnessed the team’s unrelenting execution, and consider it an honor to be partners with the company for the long term.”
- Joshua Kushner, CEO of Thrive Capital
