Databricks co-founder Ali Ghodsi confirmed on Thursday the company has raised $5 billion in a round that pushed its valuation to $190 billion.
The figure represents a significant increase from the initial target. Ghodsi told TechCrunch the team originally sought only $1 billion but was forced to expand the deal to appease existing venture capital backers.
The situation arose after The Information published a report in June claiming Databricks was launching a major fundraise. The publication timed the story to coincide with a conference the company was hosting.
“We were heads down with our conference, and we were not actually at all focused on fundraising,” Ghodsi said. He noted the company was busy executing its agenda when the news broke.
As soon as the article appeared, investor interest surged. Ghodsi described his phone blowing up with calls from potential backers.
“The interest level was just insane,” he said. “Just from this select group of investors that we looked at, there was $15 billion of interest.”
Refusing to turn down such a large sum from long-term partners would have risked damaging relationships. Databricks instead issued additional shares to meet the demand.
In July, the company announced it had closed the round at a valuation of $188 billion without disclosing the exact amount raised at that time.
On Thursday, Databricks clarified that it had secured $5 billion from a group of about two dozen venture capital firms. The round was led by Coatue and included Blackstone, MGX, various accounts linked to T. Rowe Price, and new investor Sixth Street Growth.
Sixth Street was founded by Alan Waxman, the former chief investment officer at Goldman Sachs.
The appetite for the deal suggests Databricks remains a strong investment. Ghodsi stated the company has reached $7 billion in annualized run-rate revenue and is currently growing at 80 per cent.
The business is cash-flow positive. Its core product, a cloud data warehouse, accounts for $1.5 billion of that revenue and is growing at 100 per cent year-over-year.
The firm also markets its AI capabilities through Lakebase, a database for agents launched in June 2025. That product has achieved a $100 million run-rate.
Its AI chatbot tool, Genie, allows users to perform business analysis instantly. Ghodsi described the tool as “insanely popular.”
Despite the strong performance, the company continues to raise capital because AI is expensive. Databricks holds multi-billion dollar cloud commitments with the three major hyperscalers.
“AI research is very expensive,” Ghodsi said. The company maintains an AI research team of 100 people in a highly competitive sector.
The firm is also active in mergers and acquisitions. This week it announced the purchase of Electric, which builds PGlite, a lightweight Postgres database for agents to spin up databases.
In June, Databricks bought AI cybersecurity company Panther. In March, it acquired two other startups.
Ghodsi noted that a $1 billion raise would have been considered massive and difficult in the past. In the current climate of AI spending, that amount is now a pittance.
Some in the tech community joke that Databricks has raised so many rounds it is running out of letters of the alphabet.
Ghodsi told CNBC he still intends to take the company public one day. With a vast roster of investors who will eventually want to cash out, he cannot promise otherwise.
Currently, he prefers to focus on investing in AI while remaining out of the public eye.
When a company can command $15 billion of interest on its own terms, there is little rush to go public.
What it means
The deal highlights how private fundraising has become a viable alternative to an IPO for well-funded AI firms. Databricks can access capital without the scrutiny of public markets while retaining control over its strategic direction.
