Databricks Grows >65% YoY, Surpasses $5.4 Billion Revenue Run-Rate, Doubles Down on Lakebase and Genie

Databricks Inc., a data and AI company, announced it crossed a $5.4 billion revenue run-rate, delivering >65% year-over-year growth during its Q4.Building on this momentum, Databricks is completing investments in the company in excess of $7 billion, including ~$5B of equity financing at a $134 billion valuation and ~$2B of additional debt capacity. With this new funding, the company will accelerate Lakebase, its serverless Postgres database built for AI agents, and Genie, its conversational AI assistant that lets any employee chat with their data.

This financing drew strong participation from both new and returning investors. JPMorganChase expanded its investment in the company through its Security and Resiliency Initiative’s newly-formed Strategic Investment Group. In addition to previously disclosed participants in the Series L round, the additional close also included Glade Brook Capital, Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, funds affiliated with Neuberger, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), funds associated with UBS, and others. The credit facilities were led by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. alongside Barclays, Citi, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, with participation from other leading financial institutions and alternative asset managers.

Financial momentum
This investment follows continued strong momentum across Databricks’ business in Q4:

Surpassing $5.4 billion revenue run-rate, growing >65% YoY
Delivering positive free cash flow over the last 12 months
Crossing $1.4 billion revenue run-rate for its AI products
Sustaining net retention rate >140%
>800 customers consuming at over $1 million annual revenue run-rate
>70 customers consuming at over $10 million annual revenue run-rate

“We’re seeing overwhelming investor interest in our next chapter as we go after two new markets,” said Ali Ghodsi, co-founder and CEO, Databricks. “With this new capital, we’ll double down on Lakebase so developers can create operational databases built for AI agents. At the same time, we’re investing in Genie to let every employee chat with their data, driving accurate and actionable insights.”

“Databricks is a generational company that has become a backbone for enterprise data and AI, helping organizations across critical sectors seize opportunities and overcome challenges,” said Todd Combs, head of the strategic investment group, security and resiliency initiative, JPMorganChase. “This initial investment reflects the strength of Databricks’ secure platform and continues to support their innovative, production‑scale applications that serve customers around the world.”

Building the future of Data + AI
The company will use the funding to advance Lakebase, a serverless Postgres database built for the age of AI that helps customers build data and AI applications faster on a unified platform. Databricks will also scale investments in Genie, its conversational AI assistant, expanding natural‑language capabilities that make data and AI accessible to every corner of the business. The company also expects to use the funds to advance AI research, pursue strategic acquisitions and provide employee liquidity.

Comments

Databricks' trajectory is truly unique and continues to accelerate at an impressive pace. Revenue is now approaching $6 billion, growing at a rate of over 65%. The company has raised another funding round, prompting questions about why it requires such a substantial amount of capital, including debt financing. Among the new investors are Microsoft, several major financial institutions, and a Qatari financial entity as well.

The company has expanded from more than 700 to over 800 customers with deals exceeding $1 million, including more than 70 customers generating over $10 million each. At a minimum, this suggests that at least $1.5 billion in revenue comes from roughly 870 enterprise customers.

Beyond big data, analytics, and data warehousing - which already account for a substantial portion of revenue - AI has become a major growth driver, reaching $1.4 billion and expanding at 40% QoQ.

Databricks is positioned at the intersection of software and cloud as a private company, but its valuation raises important questions about the future. What type of exit strategy could justify it? How will employees and investors ultimately realize returns? Could it involve a secondary market, another funding round to provide liquidity to earlier investors, or perhaps a large-scale merger?