CB Insights’ Post

Conventional wisdom is that Databricks missed an opportunity with the pre-pandemic IPO bubble. It could be argued either way: (1) Venture investors missed cashing out at sublime levels; or (2) Databricks maintained sustainable growth in spite of surging interest rates, and consequently, when market conditions become IPO friendlier, it should be inoculated from the threat of being too ridiculously priced. The good news is one of continued sustainable growth. Or as Thomas W. Dinsmore termed it yesterday, a common sense approach to building its platform from the bottom up rather than some grand strategery from the top down.

Databricks' Bold Play: $2 Billion for Tabular In a striking move, Databricks has reportedly shelled out $2 billion to acquire Tabular, a startup with just $1 million in annual revenue. This acquisition underscores the fierce competition between Databricks and Snowflake, two titans in the analytics and AI landscape. Tabular, backed by heavyweights like Altimeter Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, is renowned for its Apache Iceberg table format, making it a coveted asset in the data wars. This hefty price tag highlights the strategic value Databricks sees in staying ahead of Snowflake, especially as Snowflake grapples with a significant stock price drop and security challenges. Is this merely a high-stakes gamble, or a visionary move to solidify Databricks' dominance? #Databricks #Tabular #Acquisition #ApacheIceberg #Snowflake #TechMergers #Saasverse

Breaking records! 🚀 Databricks secures $5 billion in funding, skyrocketing its valuation to $55 billion. This move aims to enhance employee liquidity and fuel innovation in the data-driven world. 💡📊 Databricks Raises $5 Billion in Funding Round Valued at $55 Billion to Provide Employee Liquidity View full news : https://bit.ly/3Z47eqi #Databricks #FundingRound #TechInnovation #DataAnalytics #Valuation #TechNews #BusinessGrowth #EmployeeBenefits

Databricks, the data analytics platform, is taking a unique approach to going public. Instead of an IPO, the company is self-reporting its business performance while it waits for the right moment to commit. According to Ali Ghodsi, Databricks' CEO, the company is taking this alternative path to becoming a public firm. Stay tuned for more updates on this innovative strategy! #Databricks #IPO #BusinessPerformance #DataAnalytics

𝟱𝟬% - 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 Databricks, the renowned data company, has disclosed staggering financial results, reaching over $1.6 billion in revenue for the fiscal year, representing a 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝟱𝟬% 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿. Despite its status as a privately-owned entity, Databricks is adopting public reporting practices, fueling speculation about an imminent IPO. CEO Ali Ghodsi emphasizes the company's readiness for public listing, citing robust financials and operational efficiency. Notably, Databricks' innovative offerings, including its data-warehousing product Databricks SQL, contribute significantly to its revenue stream. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆'𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗹𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗚𝗵𝗼𝗱𝘀𝗶 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. While Databricks continues to assess market conditions for its IPO, it remains focused on strategic investments and sustained growth, exemplifying its commitment to innovation in the data analytics space. #Databricks #DataAnalytics #AI #RevenueGrowth #IPO #Innovation https://lnkd.in/dYJbdrCa

Big moves in the data analytics and AI space! Thrive Capital is reportedly in talks to acquire a $1B stake in Databricks, valuing the company at $55B. 🚀 Databricks continues its impressive trajectory: Secondary market valuations range from $24B to $53B, influenced by deal structures like cap tables or SPVs. The last funding round in September 2023 valued Databricks at $43B. This upcoming transaction isn’t a new funding round but a share sale (tender offer) led by Thrive Capital. With annualised revenue hit $2.4B (a 26% yoy increase). Databricks is solidifying its role as a leader in analytics and AI innovation. Learn more about Databricks financials: https://lnkd.in/eDDfdT5u #Databricks #preIPO #SecondaryMarket #Secondaries #Investments #PortfolioMonitoring The Sky Cliff Platform serves as a comprehensive portfolio monitoring solution for the Late-Stage Private Equity Market (pre-IPO), offering independent informational services. Please note that Sky Cliff Professionals does not provide investment or tax advice. Potential investors are advised to seek specialized independent tax and financial advice before investing in any alternative investment. Past performance does not guarantee future returns, and investments involve risks to your capital.

Want to earn a **** ton of money? It seems acquisitions are the way. Databricks acquired Tabular (now part of Databricks) for $2 billion dollars. This number has been previously reported but not disclosed, so I'm not 100% sure if it is correct. 🧱 Now this doesn't sound too weird maybe. However, I was quite astonished to hear Tabular only did about $1 million in revenue. I'm trying to figure out how this works, but it must have something to do with intellectual property. ❄ Snowflake also made a bid on Tabular, and apparently they offered $600 million. But that's not all, the agreement between Databricks and Tabular was made official during Snowflakes most recent annual summit. Talk about competitor disrespect 😂 As a freelancer that built a career on Databricks, I feel like its good to be knowledgeable on these topics. I just hope acquisitions like these actually remain sustainable and generate more profit in the long run. #snowflake #databricks

In a setback for the #IPO market, tech darling Databricks has announced that it will NOT attempt to go public in the next year as tech industry participants had hoped would bring this long moribound market back from the dolldrums. Instead, The Information reports that: • Databricks may raise cash to buy out employee RSUs • Fundraising could be at a valuation of $55 billion or more • Databricks last raised money at a $43 billion valuation A company of this size should have long ago IPO'd and be exited into the public markets, but why would they, when the costs, risks and challenges are so high? We need a fundamental redesign of the architecture of U.S. capital markets: 1. end decimalization of brokerage commissions 2. loosen the gooseneck on publishing research 3. foster trading of smaller public companies 4. loosen regulatory burdens within Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 that make compliance costs so high, IPO process so expensive and burdensome 5. introduce some regulation of private capital The JOBS Act over a decade ago was supposed to fix our IPO markets, and it failed miserably. Time to try again, and get it right this time.

Love this move! I wish more companies were willing to share their financials - and other key metrics - with the public. It's very useful for up-and-coming companies to see what is possible! I'm personally tired of seeing the "so-and-so raised x amount of $". Instead, tell me how much revenue you made, how many customers you serve, what kind of quantitative impact does your product deliver... https://lnkd.in/dTJ39uda "[Databricks], the 11-year-old data company, said Wednesday it reached over $1.6 billion in revenue for its fiscal year ended Jan. 31, representing a growth rate of over 50% from the prior year. Currently the fourth-largest privately held, venture-backed U.S. company according to PitchBook, Databricks said in August 2022 it had surpassed $1 billion in annualized revenue."

Is there any good reason for Databricks to IPO? Databricks has traded very actively in the secondary market for a range of reasons. It's a well known company in a hot space. Also, the CEO has shared information publicly about the company's performance. Visibility into how a private company is doing helps a lot to generate demand. Databricks is also a rare stock that does not trade directly but trades very actively on an indirect basis (ie. no actual shares change hands, but buyers and sellers use structures like SPVs in order to trade). The significant variations in transacted prices are therefore more the result the range of transaction structures that buyers and sellers employ in transfering interests, rather than a lack of available price discovery. Different structures have different prices, and so do different classes (eg. common vs. RSUs) As Rebecca Szkutak of TechCrunch recently wrote, private companies are increasingly satisfying liquidity needs in the private secondary market. What's more, as we start to get robust price discovery, I believe that the private market will act more like the public markets for companies' PRIMARY fundraising needs. Liquid pricing benchmarks will help companies source investors and set fundraising terms much more easily. All of this begs the question: is there something that Databricks can get from going public that it cannot get as a private company? #privatemarket #secondarymarket #liquidity #fundraising #unicorns #preipo