Databricks Upcoming IPO: Analyzing going public after $10B funding round
In a year where the IPO market still failed to fully unlock, private market investors haven't been shy about allocating large sums to private companies at valuations that rival public market competitors. In October, for example, OpenAI announced it raised $6.6 billion at a $157 billion valuation.3 But another AI-related company, Databricks, bested that in terms of fundraising size, with the announcement of a $10 billion Series J in December 2024 ($8.6 billion out of $10 billion completed so far), at a $62 billion valuation.4
While huge rounds like these could imply a continued shunning of public markets, that's not necessarily the case when zooming out. For Databricks, the latest funding round seems to be more of a temporary measure, while an IPO remains on the table for 2025 or 2026.5
Indeed, at a recent Axios conference the same day the latest Databricks round was announced, Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi said the company decided that "it's dumb to IPO" in 2024, given factors like that it was an election year and other areas of uncertainty. And considering it would take a while for the IPO process to unfold, the company decided to go forward with the latest funding round to efficiently provide liquidity to current and former employees.6
Still, Ghodsi said that 2025 is a possibility for an IPO, or the following year, but regardless, going public is the eventual direction he sees. "I think the majority of the lifetime of Databricks will be as a public company," he said.7
Databricks: Company background
Databricks, based in San Francisco, is a data analytics and AI company that was founded in 2013 by seven co-founders, all of whom remain with the company today — Ali Ghodsi, Ion Stoica, Matei Zaharia, Patrick Wendell, Reynold Xin, Andy Konwinski, and Arsalan Tavakoli-Shiraji.8
The co-founders have backgrounds in academia and open source projects such as Apache Spark.9
Making sense of Big Data
The exponentially growing amount of data in the world is only really valuable if you can make sense of all of that information. So, companies like Databricks provide software to help companies store their data and analyze it, both from a backward-looking analytical perspective, as well as a forward-looking predictive perspective, applying AI to draw insights and recommendations from their data.
Databricks is known for its lakehouse architecture, which combines aspects of data lakes and data warehouses, and the platform is built on open source standards so companies retain more control over their data.
From an AI perspective, Databricks helps companies build and implement AI models that can be applied to these companies' own data so they can draw insights from it. JetBlue, for example, uses Databricks' AI capabilities to help in areas such as optimizing fuel efficiency, among many other applications.10
AI demand has been a big driver behind Databricks' 60% year over year growth as of the quarter ending October 31, 2024. And by the end of the next quarter, as of January 31, 2025, Databricks projects it will "cross $3 billion revenue run-rate and be free cash flow positive," according to a company announcement.11
In all, Databricks has grown to over 10,000 customers, including over 60% of the Fortune 500. Among its customers, more than 500 are spending with Databricks at an annual revenue run-rate of over $1 million.12
The company has also made some major acquisitions to help fuel its growth, including buying data management company Tabular in 2024 for a reported $2 billion, perhaps to try to maneuver ahead of Databricks' main competitor, Snowflake.13
With the latest funding round, Databricks' valuation has surpassed Snowflake's market cap (around $54 billion for Snowflake vs. a private market valuation of $62 billion for Databricks).14,15
Databricks stock price history
Databricks' Forge Price is $97.12 as of mid-to-late December 2024, which is about a 32% gain over the past year. Much of that increase came over the past few weeks as the latest funding round materialized — which priced the stock at $92.50 per share — prompting the Forge Price to jump around 21% from the start of December through just past the midpoint of the month.16 Forge Price is a derived data point that reflects the up-to-date price performance of venture-backed, late-stage companies, and is calculated based on a proprietary model incorporating pricing inputs from primary funding round information, secondary market transactions, and indications of interest (IOIs) on Forge.
In comparison, the Forge Private Market Index — a broad measurement that reflects the up-to-date performance and pricing activity of venture-backed, late-stage companies that are actively traded in the private market — is up 5% over the past year, and it's gained about 1.3% so far in December. So, while the directions are the same, Databricks is significantly outpacing the index.17
Databricks funding history and private market valuation
Databricks's funding history dates back to a Series A in 2013, when it raised $14 million at a $48.68 million valuation, led by Andreessen Horowitz.18 The following year, New Enterprise Associates led its Series B,19 with Databricks raising around $34 million at a valuation of around $250 million.20
In 2019, Databricks crossed the unicorn threshold, with a $250 million Series E that brought its valuation to $2.81 billion.21 This round included investors such as Microsoft and Coatue Management, along with further investment from Andreessen Horowitz and New Enterprise Associates. Later that year, its Series F raised over $400 million at a $6.2 billion valuation, with large investors such as BlackRock, Tiger Global Management, and T. Rowe Price joining in.22
In 2021, Databricks had two separate rounds — a Series G and Series H — that each raised over $1 billion, the latter of which brought its valuation up to nearly $38 billion. These rounds included investment from both major tech companies and asset managers, such as Morgan Stanley's Counterpoint Global, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity, Amazon Web Services, Salesforce Ventures, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.23
In 2023, Databricks raised almost $685 million for its Series I, at a valuation of over $43 billion. This round again included investors such as T. Rowe Price and Andreessen Horowitz, along with new investors such as Nvidia and Capital One Ventures.24
Most recently, Databricks announced in mid-December 2024 that it is raising $10 billion for its Series J, led by Thrive Capital. This round values Databricks at $62 billion, and while it's not finalized, CEO Ghodsi said the round is over-subscribed.25
Looking ahead
Although Databricks decided to raise a big round this year rather than going public, an IPO still seems to be very much the end goal. Whether an IPO comes in 2025 or later remains to be seen, but public comments show that Databricks does not intend to remain private indefinitely.26
Check back here or take a look at Forge’s upcoming IPO calendar to stay in the loop about a possible Databricks IPO and other pending public offerings.
If you’re interested in investing in private companies like Databricks before they go public, read more about pre-IPO investing or register on Forge Markets today to get started.
FAQs about the Databricks upcoming IPO
What is Databricks?
Databricks is a software company that helps organizations store, manage, and analyze their data, including through the use of AI to gain insights from existing data.
Is Databricks going public?
Databricks is reportedly considering an IPO in 2025 or perhaps the following year, but no definitive date has been set at this time.
Who are Databricks's key investors?
Databricks has a wide range of key investors, including venture capital firms, more traditional asset managers and tech firms, such as Andreessen Horowitz, Morgan Stanley, New Enterprise Associates, T. Rowe Price, Thrive Capital, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, and Nvidia.
Can anyone invest in Databricks?
At this time, Databricks remains a private company. Thus, investment is typically limited to accredited investors who are either invited to participate in primary funding rounds or those who can access pre-IPO shares of Databricks on a secondary marketplace such as Forge, subject to availability.
