Databricks Joins the $100 Billion Unicorn Club, Ranking Fifth Globally — Investors Now Demand IPO Clarity

TradingKey - Following the explosive IPO of Figma, capital markets are scrambling to find the next breakout tech company still in private hands. Databricks, the AI-powered data analytics firm, has emerged as a top contender after a new funding round pushed its valuation past $100 billion, turning the company into a hot commodity — so much so that CEO Ali Ghodsi says his phone has been “blowing up.”

On Tuesday, August 19, Databricks announced it is closing a $1 billion Series K round, with all parties having signed term sheets. The new valuation exceeds $100 billion — a 61% increase from the $62 billion valuation set during its $1 billion financing round in December 2024.

This valuation surge makes Databricks the fifth privately held unicorn globally to surpass $100 billion, trailing only:

• SpaceX (aerospace)
• OpenAI (ChatGPT developer)
• ByteDance (TikTok’s parent)
• xAI (Elon Musk’s AI company)

Before the official announcement, The Wall Street Journal reported that early investors Thrive Capital, Insight Partners, and WCM Investment Management are co-leading the round, with participation from top-tier venture firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

Sources said the round received “wildly” oversubscription, reflecting intense investor demand.

Founded in 2013, Databricks specializes in big data processing and AI-driven analytics, offering a cloud-based unified data intelligence platform. Its platform is used by over 60% of Fortune 500 companies — for example, Adidas uses Databricks software to analyze customer sentiment in reviews to improve product feedback.

In June, Databricks revealed that its annualized revenue reached $3.7 billion by July, up 50% year-over-year. In comparison, its main rival Snowflake is expected to report $4.5 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ending January 2026, with a 25% growth rate. As of August 20, Snowflake, backed by Warren Buffett, has a market cap of $65 billion.

The funds raised will be used to accelerate Databricks’ AI strategy, including:

• Expanding Agent Bricks, its enterprise-grade AI agent service
• Investing in Lakebase, a database optimized for AI agents
• Scaling its workforce — adding 3,000 new employees to its current 9,000

Ghodsi said the company hadn’t planned to raise funds this soon, but investors have been contacting him daily, asking how they can invest.

“It wasn’t this way two months ago, but in the last month it’s just been constant.”

He said that the recent Figma IPO and the surge in Palantir’s stock price have fueled investor hunger for late-stage private tech investments.

Still, while Wall Street is eager for anything AI-related, this funding round may reduce the urgency for an IPO.

Ghodsi said his finance team advised him not to use the word “IPO,” but acknowledged that Databricks has the potential to become a trillion-dollar company.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us to get there.”