Databricks Raises Whopping $10B in Late-Stage Funding Round
Databricks has raised $10 billion in Series J funding, with $8.6 billion already completed, in one of the most significant private funding deals of 2024. The round values the San Francisco-based data analytics company at $62 billion.
The round was led by Thrive Capital, and included several high-profile co-leads such as Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global, GIC, Insight Partners and WCM Investment Management. It follows the Series I funding in 2023 which included Nvidia as one of its new investors.
The large investment round comes only months after OpenAI’s record-breaking $6.6 billion raise, demonstrating ongoing investor interest in businesses at the vanguard of the AI revolution.
The company has seen increased momentum and accelerated growth in recent quarters largely due to the unprecedented interest in artificial intelligence. Databricks intends to invest the capital in new AI products, acquisitions, and significant expansion of its international go-to-market operations.
In addition to fueling its growth, the capital is expected to be used towards providing liquidity for current and former employees, as well as pay related taxes.
“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,” said Ali Ghodsi, co-founder and CEO of Databricks. “These are still the early days of AI. We’re building transformative data and AI infrastructure and excited to move aggressively in service of our customers and their success.”
The funding comes at a critical time for Databricks, which intends to achieve positive free cash flow for the first time in the current quarter and aims to exceed $3 billion in sales run-rate by January 2025. Despite widespread talk of an initial public offering, Databricks appears to be in no hurry, with revenue soaring by more than 60% year on year in the third quarter.
The company now serves more than 10,000 organizations worldwide, including over 60% of Fortune 500 companies, and its non-GAAP subscription gross margins remain above 80%, with more than 500 customers now spending over $1 million annually.
