Databricks said it raised $5 billion in a private financing that pushed its valuation to $190 billion, after an earlier report prompted a wave of investor interest, CEO Ali Ghodsi said.
Fundraising shift after media coverage
Ghodsi recounted that the company initially intended to raise $1 billion, but an article published during a June conference generated calls from investors. He said about $15 billion of interest materialized from a select group of potential backers, and Databricks expanded the deal rather than exclude long-term investors.
The $5 billion round was led by Coatue and included Blackstone, MGX, various accounts associated with arms of T. Rowe Price, and new investor Sixth Street Growth. Sixth Street Growth was founded by former Goldman Sachs chief investment officer Alan Waxman. Databricks named roughly two dozen venture investors as participants. In July the company had issued a press release saying it closed a round at a $188 billion valuation but did not disclose the amount at that time.
Business performance and use of funds
Ghodsi reported a $7 billion annualized run rate for Databricks, which he said is growing at about 80% and is cash-flow positive. He attributed $1.5 billion of that run rate to the company’s cloud data warehouse, which he said is growing roughly 100% year-over-year.
Databricks has launched AI products it says are gaining traction: Lakebase, a database for agents that launched in June 2025, reached a $100 million revenue run rate, and the company’s Genie chatbot tool is, in Ghodsi’s words, “insanely popular” for on-the-spot business analysis.
The CEO explained continued fundraising by pointing to high AI costs, including multibillion-dollar cloud commitments with all three major hyperscalers and an AI research team of about 100 people. The company also cited acquisition activity; recently announced deals include Electric, maker of the lightweight Postgres database PGlite (terms undisclosed), the June acquisition of AI cybersecurity firm Panther, and multiple purchases in March.
Ghodsi has said he still intends to take Databricks public one day, but for now the company is using private capital to support AI investment, cloud commitments and M&A. Databricks reported it had raised about $20 billion over the past 20 months.
Original source: TechCrunch AI