Report: Databricks Close to Raising Record $9.5 Billion Amid AI Boom

Databricks reportedly is close to raising $9.5 billion in a funding round, a feat that would create one of the largest-ever venture capital funding rounds.

The final number could still go up before the round is finalized next week, Reuters reported Friday (Dec. 13), citing unnamed sources.

The deal would value the company at over $60 billion, according to the report.

Databricks did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

As a data analytics firm, Databricks can sell its clients tools related to artificial intelligence (AI) applications and thereby benefit from the AI boom that has seen OpenAI’s $6.5 billion raise and xAI’s $6 billion raise, per the report.

The company’s competitor Snowflake has a market cap of about $56 billion, according to the report.

Databricks raised over $500 million in a September 2023 funding round that valued the company at $43 billion.

The company said at the time in a press release that by unifying data, analytics and AI on a single platform, the Databricks Lakehouse enables customers to gain insights and build generative AI solutions faster.

“Databricks and Nvidia are building transformative AI technology, and we’re excited about the business value and innovation we can bring to our customers,” Databricks Co-founder and CEO Ali Ghodsi said in the release.

The company said in November that it is collaborating with Enigma to deliver financial health intelligence about more than 33 million small- t0 medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to customers. The data includes monthly and annual card revenues, revenue growth, average transaction size, payment technologies used and sub-industry classifications.

In October, Mastercard said it launched a generative AI-powered digital assistant using new in-house capability that was built in collaboration with Databricks, using its Data Intelligence Platform. Mastercard’s new in-house capability allows it to build and deploy knowledge agent tools.

Databricks said in June that it launched an AI-powered business intelligence product that is designed to enable anyone in an organization to access analytics and insights. Called Databricks AI/BI, the product features interactive dashboards and a conversational interface called Genie, both of which are powered by a compound AI system that continuously learns from usage across an organization.