Databricks planned to raise $1B, got $15B in investor interest, settled on $5B at $190B valuation
AI and data company Databricks closed a $5 billion funding round at a $190 billion valuation, far exceeding its original $1 billion target after investor demand surged. CEO Ali Ghodsi said the round grew after media reports triggered a wave of investor calls.
Databricks co-founder and CEO Ali Ghodsi said the company's latest funding round ballooned well beyond its original plans. The company initially set out to raise just $1 billion, but after The Information published a report about a possible large fundraise — timed right as Databricks was consumed with running its annual conference in June — investor interest exploded.
Ghodsi said that among a select group of investors the company considered, interest reached as much as $15 billion. To avoid alienating existing and new backers, Databricks decided to issue additional shares. In July, the company announced the round had closed at a $188 billion valuation, without disclosing the exact amount raised at the time. On Thursday, Databricks confirmed it had raised $5 billion, pushing its valuation up to $190 billion.
The round was led by Coatue, with participation from Blackstone, MGX, several funds tied to T. Rowe Price, and new investor Sixth Street Growth, founded by former Goldman Sachs chief investment officer Alan Waxman. Roughly two dozen venture firms took part overall.
Strong financial performance
Ghodsi said Databricks has reached $7 billion in annualized run-rate revenue, growing 80% year-over-year, and is cash-flow positive. Its core cloud data warehouse product accounts for $1.5 billion of that revenue and is still growing 100% annually. Its AI offerings are also scaling fast: Lakebase, an agent database launched in June 2025, has already reached a $100 million revenue run rate, while its Genie AI chatbot is described as extremely popular.
Why raise more money
Databricks has already raised $20 billion over the past 20 months. Ghodsi explained that AI is expensive — the company holds multibillion-dollar cloud commitments with all three major hyperscalers and maintains a 100-person AI research team. Databricks is also actively acquiring companies, including this week's announced purchase of Electric, alongside earlier acquisitions of Panther and two other startups.
Ghodsi said he still intends to eventually take the company public, but for now the company is prioritizing private fundraising to fuel its AI investments.
