Sawt Falasteen - AI startup Databricks raises $10 bn as value soars

The blockbuster funding round is yet another signal of the unrelenting appetite from investors for potential AI stars.

Investors listed as taking part in the funding round included tech sector powerhouses Andreessen Horowitz and Thrive Capital.

"This round of financing was heavily oversubscribed, and we are delighted to welcome some of the world's most renowned investors, who share a deep conviction in our vision," Databricks co-founder and chief executive Ali Ghodsi said in a release.

"We are still in the early stages of the AI Era."

Founded in 2013 by students at the University of California, Berkeley, Databricks runs a cloud-based platform for companies to take advantage of artificial intelligence, including for data management.

Databricks bought data management optimization company Tabular for more than $1 billion in June.

The San Francisco-based company is among those that have integrated generative AI into its platform.

In June, chief financial officer Dave Conte reported that the company expected to be on pace for $2.4 billion in annual revenue.

That's up from the last fiscal year, which saw $1.6 billion in revenue.

Databricks has so far eschewed becoming a publicly traded company.

In addition to financing the company's growth, the fundraising round will enable Databricks employees to sell some of the equity they have earned in the startup.

P.Tamimi--SF-PST