Dec 17, 2024

Databricks raises $10 billion in late-stage funding round at a $62 billion valuation Nickie Louise Posted On December 17, 2024 Databricks announced on Tuesday that it has hit a $62 billion valuation following a $10 billion Series J funding round. Thrive Capital led the round, with Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global, GIC, Insight Partners, and WCM Investment Management joining as co-leads. The round also saw participation from the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, ICONIQ Growth, MGX, Sands Capital, and Wellington Management. Databricks will use the massive capital injection to develop new AI products, pursue acquisitions, and grow Databricks’ international presence. The significant raise underscores Silicon Valley’s continued interest in AI-driven startup companies . Founded in 2013 by Ali Ghodsi (CEO), Andy Konwinski, Ion Stoica, Matei Zaharia, Patrick Wendell, Reynold Xin, and Scott Shenker, Databricks offers an enterprise platform for data engineering, machine learning, and analytics. Over 5,000 companies, including Comcast, Condé Nast, Nationwide, and H&M, rely on Databricks to unify their data operations. The company’s customer base includes more than 40% of the Fortune 500. Databricks has experienced more than 60% year-over-year growth, fueled by the rising demand for artificial intelligence. The company plans to use the capital to scale its AI product offerings, expand go-to-market operations globally, and provide liquidity for employees, including covering associated tax costs. Notably, the company expects to achieve positive free cash flow for the first time this quarter. In a statement, Ghodsi emphasized the company’s long-term vision and focus on helping businesses leverage data intelligence. “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,” Ghodsi said . Databricks’ Data Intelligence Platform simplifies access to data and AI, helping organizations use data for analytics, machine learning, and AI applications. Built on open-source technology, the platform enables companies to innovate, increase revenue, cut costs, and mitigate risk. Customers are using Databricks to accelerate drug development, detect fraud, address climate change, and tackle financial inequality, among other applications. Joshua Kushner, CEO of Thrive Capital, praised Databricks’ focus and execution, saying, “We have witnessed the team’s unrelenting execution, and consider it an honor to be partners with the company for the long term.” Last summer, Databricks acquired MosaicML for $1.3 billion . MosaicML, an open-source startup and competitor to OpenAI, provides tools to train and deploy large-scale generative AI models. 0