AI firm Databricks raising USD 10 billion to fuel growth

NEW DELHI, Dec 18: Data and AI company Databricks on Wednesday said it is raising USD 10 billion in funding led by Thrive Capital and plans to use the fresh capital for new AI products, acquisitions, and expanding its international market operations.
  The oversubscribed funding round values the San Francisco-headquartered firm at USD 62 billion, according to a company statement.
“The company is raising USD 10 billion of expected non-dilutive financing and has completed USD 8.6 billion to date.
“Databricks intends to invest this capital towards new AI products, acquisitions, and significant expansion of its international go-to-market operations. In addition to fuelling its growth, this capital is expected to be used towards providing liquidity for current and former employees, as well as pay related taxes,” the statement said.
The funding round was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global, GIC, Insight Partners and WCM Investment Management. Existing investor Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and new investors ICONIQ Growth, MGX, Sands Capital, and Wellington Management also participated in the round.
Databricks has seen increased momentum and accelerated growth of over 60 per cent year-over-year in October quarter, largely due to the “unprecedented interest in artificial intelligence,” the statement said.
The company expects to cross USD 3 billion revenue run-rate and achieve positive free cash flow in the fourth quarter ending January 31, 2025, it said.
“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,” Databricks co-founder and CEO Ali Ghodsi said.
The Databricks Data Intelligence Platform democratises access to data and AI, enabling organisations to use their data for analytics, machine learning, and AI applications.
It helps enterprises boost revenue, cut cost, and minimise risks. (PTI)