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Databricks lands $188bn valuation above prior talks
Coatue is investing about $3bn in Databricks at a $188bn valuation, topping earlier talks of up to $175bn.
Image: TNW
Databricks has reached a $188bn valuation in a new funding round led by Coatue Management, topping the up to $175bn valuation the company was reportedly discussing just weeks ago. The figure was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
According to the Journal, Coatue is investing roughly $3bn in what is described as a strategic round involving both new and existing backers. A term sheet has been signed, and the deal is expected to close later this summer. Neither Coatue nor Databricks has commented publicly.
Strategic rounds like this typically serve two purposes: they add cash for infrastructure spending and acquisitions, and they can give early employees and investors a chance to sell some shares without the disclosure requirements of a public listing.
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The new valuation extends a rapid climb for the data and AI company. Databricks closed a $5bn round at $134bn in February, alongside $2bn of debt. A little over a year earlier, it was valued at $62bn in a $10bn Series J. Earlier reports had placed its next valuation between $165bn and $175bn, making $188bn higher than even the top end of that range.
Databricks sells a platform for ingesting, analyzing, and building AI applications on corporate data. It competes most directly with Snowflake, giving investors a public-market benchmark for what Databricks could eventually command after an IPO. The company says revenue is running at more than $5.4bn annually and growing by more than 65%.
The funding follows a busy stretch that included the acquisition of Panther Labs as Databricks pushed further into cybersecurity. Co-founder Matei Zaharia also recently won an ACM Prize and said AGI is here.
On an IPO, CEO Ali Ghodsi has said Databricks will go public eventually, but not into 2026's crowded market. The company has not disclosed how it plans to use the new capital, and Reuters noted there was no use-of-proceeds statement. For now, Databricks is still choosing private capital over public-market scrutiny — at a price that will be hard to ignore when it eventually files.
Enterprise Editor
Marcus follows the money. He covers enterprise software, cloud architecture, and the tectonic shifts in Big Tech strategy. He translates dense earnings calls and complex M&A activity into actionable insights about where the industry is actually heading. If a tech giant makes a silent pivot, Marcus is usually the first to notice.
via TNW
