Company:Databricks

From HandWiki
Databricks, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryComputer software
Founded2013; 13 years ago (2013)[1]
Founders
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
,
United States
Key people
  • Ali Ghodsi
  • (CEO)
  • Ion Stoica
  • (Executive chairman)
RevenueIncrease $2.6 billion (2024)[2]
Number of employees
c. 8,000 (2025)[3]
Websitedatabricks.com

Databricks, Inc. is a San Francisco-based software company.[4] It was founded in 2013 by the original creators of Apache Spark.[1][5] It offers a cloud-based platform for data analytics and artificial intelligence.[6]

Databricks promotes the concept of a 'data lakehouse', which combines elements of data warehouses and data lakes to enable management and analysis of both structured and unstructured data for business analytics and AI applications.[7] The company similarly develops Delta Lake, an open-source project to improve the reliability of data lakes for data science use cases.[8]

History

2013-2021

Databricks booth (2023)

Databricks grew out of the AMPLab project at University of California, Berkeley that was involved in making Apache Spark, an open-source distributed computing framework built atop Scala.[9] The company was founded by Ali Ghodsi, Andy Konwinski, Arsalan Tavakoli-Shiraji, Ion Stoica, Matei Zaharia, Patrick Wendell, and Reynold Xin.[10]

In November 2017, the company was announced as a first-party service on Microsoft Azure via integration Azure Databricks.[11]

In February 2021, together with Google Cloud, Databricks provided integration with the Google Kubernetes Engine and Google's BigQuery platform.[12] At this point in time, the company said more than 5,000 organizations used its products.[13]

Fortune ranked Databricks as one of the "Best Large Workplaces for Millennials" in 2021.[14]

2022-Present

In November 2023, Databricks unveiled the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform, a new offering that combines the unification benefits of the lakehouse with MosaicML’s Generative AI technology to enable customers to better understand and use their own proprietary data.[15]

The firm was valued at $62 billion in December 2024,[16] following a funding round that raised one of the largest amounts in history, an equivalent to the largest single AI investment ever made.[17]

In early March 2025, Databricks announced it would invest $1 billion in San Francisco's downtown.[18]

In March 2025, Databricks entered a five-year partnership with Anthropic, incorporating Anthropic's AI products into the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform in a deal valued at $100 million.[19][20] Ali Ghodsi remains CEO of Databricks.[19]

Acquisitions

In June 2020, Databricks bought Redash, an open-source tool for data visualization and building of interactive dashboards.[21] In 2021, it bought German no-code company 8080 Labs whose product, bamboolib, allowed data exploration without any coding.[22] In May 2023, Databricks bought data security group Okera, extending Databricks data governance capabilities.[23] In June, it bought the open-source generative AI startup MosaicML for $1.4 billion.[24][25] In October, Databricks bought data replication startup Arcion for $100 million.[26] In 2024, Databricks bought Tabular, a data-management system used by open source AI, for over $1 billion.[27]

In March 2023, in response to the popularity of OpenAI's ChatGPT, the company introduced an open-source language model, named Dolly after Dolly the sheep, that allowed developers to create chatbots. Dolly uses fewer parameters to produce similar results as ChatGPT, but Databricks had not released formal benchmark tests to show whether its bot actually matched the performance of ChatGPT.[28][29][30]

Databricks reported $1.6 billion in revenue for the 2023 fiscal year, representing a significant increase from the previous year.[31]

In 2025, Databricks acquired a serverless database startup, Neon,[32] for around $1 billion.[33]

Funding

In September 2013, Databricks announced it raised $13.9 million from Andreessen Horowitz and said it aimed to offer an alternative to Google's MapReduce system.[34][35] Microsoft was a noted investor of Databricks in 2019, participating in the company's Series E at an unspecified amount.[36][37] The company has raised $1.9 billion in funding, including a $1 billion Series G led by Franklin Templeton at a $28 billion post-money valuation in February 2021. Other investors include Amazon Web Services, CapitalG (a growth equity firm under Alphabet Inc.) and Salesforce Ventures.[13] In August 2021, Databricks finished its eighth round of funding by raising $1.6 billion and valuing the company at $38 billion.[38] In December 2024, Databricks announced a $10 billion financing at a valuation of $62 billion.[16] In August 2025, Databricks announced a $1 billion Series K funding round, raising their valuation to over $100 billion.[39]

Funding rounds
Series Date Amount (million $) Lead investors
A 2013 13.9[34] Andreessen Horowitz
B 2014 33[40] New Enterprise Associates
C 2016 60[41] New Enterprise Associates
D 2017 140[42] Andreessen Horowitz
E Feb. 2019 250[43] Andreessen Horowitz
F Oct. 2019 400[44] Andreessen Horowitz
G Jan. 2021 1,000[45] Franklin Templeton Investments
H Aug. 2021 1,600[46] Morgan Stanley
I Sep. 2023 500[47] Capital One Ventures, Nvidia
J Dec. 2024 10,000[48] Thrive Capital
K Aug. 2025 1,000[39] Thrive Capital, Insight Partners

Products

Databricks develops a cloud data platform referred to as a 'lakehouse', combining features of data warehouses and data lakes.[49] The platform is built on the open-source Apache Spark framework, enabling analytical queries on semi-structured data without requiring a traditional database schema.[50] In October 2022, Lakehouse received FedRAMP authorized status for use with the U.S. federal government and contractors.[51]

The company has also created Delta Lake, MLflow and Koalas, open source projects that span data engineering, data science and machine learning.[52][53]

In June 2020, Databricks launched Delta Engine, a fast query engine for Delta Lake,[54] compatible with Apache Spark and MLflow.[55]

In November 2020, Databricks introduced Databricks SQL (previously called SQL Analytics) for running business intelligence and analytics reporting on top of data lakes. Analysts can query data sets with standard SQL or use connectors to integrate with business intelligence tools like Holistics, Tableau, Qlik, SigmaComputing, Looker, and ThoughtSpot.[56]

Databricks offers a platform for other workloads, including machine learning, data storage and processing, streaming analytics, and business intelligence.[57]

In early 2024, Databricks released the Mosaic set of tools for customizing, fine-tuning and building AI systems. It includes AI Vector Search for building RAG models; AI Model Serving, a service for deploying, governing, querying and monitoring models fine-tuned or pre-deployed by Databricks; and AI Pretraining, a platform for enterprises to create their own LLMs.[58]

In March 2024, Databricks released its DBRX foundation model under the Databricks Open Model License.[59] It has a mixture-of-experts architecture and is built on the MegaBlocks open-source project.[60] DBRX cost $10 million to create. At the time of launch, it was the fastest open-source LLM, based on commonly used industry benchmarks. It beat other models like Llama 2 at solving logic puzzles and answering general knowledge questions, among other tasks. And while it has 136 billion parameters, it only uses 36 billion, on average, to generate outputs.[61] DBRX also serves as a foundation for companies to build or customize their own AI models. Companies can also use proprietary data to generate higher-quality outputs for specific use cases.[62]

In addition to building the Databricks platform, the company has co-organized massive open online courses about Spark[63] and a conference for the Spark community called the Data + AI Summit,[64] formerly known as Spark Summit.[65]

Collaborations

In December 2024, Databricks along with Wiz and Workday has decided to run their products on top of AWS via the new button called "Buy with AWS button".[66]

In June 2025, Databricks announced a partnership with Google Cloud to integrate its Data Intelligence Platform with Google Cloud services.[67]


References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Exclusive: Databricks nears record $9.5 billion VC raise, eyes extra $4.5 billion debt". December 13, 2024. https://www.reuters.com/technology/databricks-nears-record-95-billion-vc-raise-eyes-extra-45-billion-debt-2024-12-13/. 
  2. ↑ Jin, Berber (2024-12-17). "Exclusive: Databricks Is Finalizing a $10 Billion Funding Haul". The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-sp500-nasdaq-live-12-17-2024/card/databricks-is-finalizing-a-10-billion-funding-haul-OaHQ9G5G7y8rS6Uwkxj6. 
  3. ↑ Jordan, Novet (2025-01-22). "Meta backs Databricks as the data analytics startup inches toward IPO". CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/22/meta-backs-databricks-as-the-data-analytics-startup-inches-toward-ipo.html. 
  4. ↑ staff, CNBC com (2020-06-16). "36. Databricks" (in en). https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/16/databricks-disruptor-50.html. 
  5. ↑ Saul, Derek (2023-09-14). "Top IPO Prospect Databricks Scores $43 Billion Valuation Thanks To $500 Million Funding Round Including AI Titan Nvidia". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2023/09/14/top-ipo-prospect-databricks-scores-43-billion-valuation-thanks-to-500-million-funding-round-including-ai-titan-nvidia/?sh=5750590b6bce/. 
  6. ↑ Sullivan, Mark (2024-03-19). "How Databricks is helping customers develop their own customized AI models". Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/91033457/databricks-most-innovative-companies-2024/. 
  7. ↑ Clark, Lindsay (2023-11-16). "Databricks' lakehouse becomes foundation under fresh layer of AI dreams". The Register. https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/16/databricks_sinks_lakehouse_in_bid/. 
  8. ↑ "Databricks launches Delta Lake, an open source data lake reliability project" (in en-US). 2019-04-24. https://venturebeat.com/2019/04/24/databricks-launches-delta-lake-an-open-source-data-lake-reliability-project/. 
  9. ↑ "Databricks, SiFive, and Anyscale founders explain how they all built their red-hot startups out of a legendary UC Berkeley lab" (in en-US). 2021-09-08. https://www.businessinsider.com/uc-berkeley-labs-databricks-sifive-anyscale-riselab-amplab-2021-9. 
  10. ↑ "Founders" (in en-US). 2023-03-03. https://www.databricks.com/company/founders. 
  11. ↑ "Microsoft makes Databricks a first-party service on Azure" (in en-US). 15 November 2017. https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/15/microsoft-makes-databricks-a-first-party-service-on-azure/. 
  12. ↑ "Databricks brings its lakehouse to Google Cloud" (in en-US). 17 February 2021. https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/17/databricks-brings-its-lakehouse-to-google-cloud/. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Konrad, Alex (February 2, 2021). "Databricks Raises $1 Billion At $28 Billion Valuation, With The Cloud's Elite All Buying In" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2021/02/01/databricks-at-28-billion-valuation-from-aws-google-microsoft-salesforce/. 
  14. ↑ "100 Best Large Workplaces for Millennials". Fortune. June 16, 2021. https://fortune.com/best-workplaces-millennials/2021/databricks/. Retrieved 2021-07-16. 
  15. ↑ Cai, Kenrick (2023-11-16). "Databricks' New AI Product Adds A ChatGPT-Like Interface To Its Software". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrickcai/2023/11/14/databricks-data-intelligence-platform-mosaicml/?sh=2a494f717c1a/. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Griffith, Erin (2024-12-17). "Databricks Is Raising $10 Billion, in One of the Largest Venture Capital Deals" (in en). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/17/technology/databricks-funding-venture-capital-deals.html. 
  17. ↑ "Why AI company Databricks just scored one of the biggest funding rounds in history". Fast Company. 2024-12-17. https://www.fastcompany.com/91248820/why-ai-company-databricks-just-scored-one-of-the-biggest-funding-rounds-in-history. 
  18. ↑ Waxmann, Laura (March 5, 2025), "San Francisco tech company Databricks to invest $1 billion in city", San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco Chronicle), https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/databricks-investment-ai-company-20205000.php, retrieved March 30, 2025 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Databricks and Anthropic partner to help companies build AI agents", The Hindu, March 27, 2025, https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/databricks-and-anthropic-partner-to-help-companies-build-ai-agents/article69381019.ece, retrieved March 30, 2025 
  20. ↑ Lin, Belle (March 26, 2025), Anthropic, Databricks Team Up in Scramble for AI Revenue, The Wall Street Journal, https://www.wsj.com/articles/anthropic-databricks-team-up-in-scramble-for-ai-revenue-e15fe750, retrieved March 30, 2025 
  21. ↑ "Databricks acquires Redash, a visualizations service for data scientists" (in en-US). 24 June 2020. https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/24/databricks-acquires-redash-a-visualizations-service-for-data-scientists/. 
  22. ↑ Eric Rosenbaum (October 6, 2021). "$38 billion software start-up Databricks makes acquisition to leave code behind". https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/06/hot-software-start-up-databricks-makes-no-code-acquisition-.html. 
  23. ↑ Palazzolo, Stephanie (May 3, 2023). "Exclusive: $38 billion data and AI darling Databricks acquires security startup Okera". https://www.businessinsider.com/data-artificial-intelligence-startup-databricks-acquire-governance-security-okera-2023-5. 
  24. ↑ Datta, Tiyashi; Hu, Krystal (June 26, 2023). "Databricks strikes $1.3 billion deal for generative AI startup MosaicML". Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/databricks-strikes-13-bln-deal-generative-ai-startup-mosaicml-2023-06-26/. 
  25. ↑ Council, Stephen (June 26, 2023). "SF tech firm Databricks to buy 2-year-old startup for $21 million per employee". SFGATE. https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/databricks-mosaicml-ghodsi-sf-tech-18171502.php. 
  26. ↑ "After $43B valuation, Databricks acquires data replication startup Arcion for $100M" (in en-US). 2023-10-23. https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/23/after-43b-valuation-databricks-acquires-data-replication-startup-arcion-for-100m/. 
  27. ↑ "Databricks to buy data management firm Tabular for over $1 bln". Reuters. 5 June 2024. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/databricks-buy-data-management-firm-tabular-over-1-bln-2024-06-04/. 
  28. ↑ Hu, Krystal; Nellis, Stephen (March 24, 2023). "Databricks pushes open-source chatbot as cheaper ChatGPT alternative". Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/technology/databricks-pushes-open-source-chatbot-cheaper-chatgpt-alternative-2023-03-24/. 
  29. ↑ Loften, Angus (March 24, 2023). "Databricks Launches 'Dolly,' Another ChatGPT Rival". The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/databricks-launches-dolly-another-chatgpt-rival-31fd0f5f. 
  30. ↑ Goldman, Sharon (March 24, 2023). "Databricks debuts ChatGPT-like Dolly, a clone any enterprise can own". VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/ai/databricks-debuts-chatgpt-like-dolly-a-clone-any-enterprise-can-own/. 
  31. ↑ Wilhelm, Ron Miller and Alex (7 March 2024). "Databricks keeps marching forward with $1.6B in revenue". https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/07/databricks-revenue-numbers-ipo/. 
  32. ↑ "Databricks Agrees to Acquire Neon to Deliver Serverless Postgres for Developers + AI Agents" (in en-US). 2025-05-13. https://www.databricks.com/company/newsroom/press-releases/databricks-agrees-acquire-neon-help-developers-deliver-ai-systems. 
  33. ↑ Novet, Jordan (2025-05-14). "Databricks is buying database startup Neon for about $1 billion" (in en). https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/14/databricks-is-buying-database-startup-neon-for-about-1-billion.html. 
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Harris, Derrick (September 25, 2013). "Databricks raises $14M from Andreessen Horowitz, wants to take on MapReduce with Spark". https://gigaom.com/2013/09/25/databricks-raises-14m-from-andreessen-horowitz-wants-to-take-on-mapreduce-with-spark/. 
  35. ↑ Lorica, Ben (September 25, 2013). "Databricks aims to build next-generation analytic tools for Big Data". O'Reilly Media. http://radar.oreilly.com/2013/09/databricks-aims-to-build-next-generation-analytic-tools-for-big-data.html. 
  36. ↑ "Databricks raises $250M at a $2.75B valuation for its analytics platform" (in en-US). 5 February 2019. https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/05/databricks-raises-250m-series-e-for-its-analytics-platform/. 
  37. ↑ Novet, Jordan (2019-02-05). "Microsoft used to scare start-ups but is now an 'outstandingly good partner,' says Silicon Valley investor Ben Horowitz" (in en). https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/04/microsoft-invests-in-databricks-funding-at-2point7-billion-valuation.html. 
  38. ↑ Mellor, Chris (2021-09-01). "Databricks raises data lake of cash at monstrous $380bn valuation". Blocks & Files. https://blocksandfiles.com/2021/09/01/databricks-raises-data-lake-of-cash-at-monstrous-38bn-valuation/. Retrieved 2021-09-04. 
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 "Databricks Surpasses $4B Revenue Run-Rate, Exceeding $1B AI Revenue Run-Rate" (in en-US). 2025-09-05. https://www.databricks.com/company/newsroom/press-releases/databricks-surpasses-4b-revenue-run-rate-exceeding-1b-ai-revenue. 
  40. ↑ Miller, Ron (June 30, 2014). "Databricks Snags $33M In Series B And Debuts Cloud Platform For Processing Big Data". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2014/06/30/databricks-snags-33m-in-series-b-and-debuts-cloud-platform-for-processing-big-data/. 
  41. ↑ Shieber, Jonathan (15 December 2016). "Databricks raises $60 million to be big data's next great leap forward". https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/15/databricks-raises-60-million-to-be-big-datas-next-great-leap-forward/. 
  42. ↑ "Databricks Secures $140 Million to Accelerate Analytics and Artificial Intelligence in the Enterprise" (in en-US). 22 August 2017. https://databricks.com/company/newsroom/press-releases/databricks-secures-140-million-accelerate-analytics-artificial-intelligence-enterprise. 
  43. ↑ "Databricks' $250 Million Funding Supports Explosive Growth and Global Demand for Unified Analytics; Brings Valuation to $2.75 Billion" (in en-US). 5 February 2019. https://databricks.com/company/newsroom/press-releases/databricks-250-million-funding-supports-explosive-growth-and-global-demand-for-unified-analytics-brings-valuation-to-2-75-billion. 
  44. ↑ "Databricks announces $400M round on $6.2B valuation as analytics platform continues to grow" (in en-US). 22 October 2019. https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/22/databricks-announces-400m-round-on-6-2b-valuation-as-analytics-platform-continues-to-grow/. 
  45. ↑ "Databricks raises $1B at $28B valuation as it reaches $425M ARR" (in en-US). February 2021. https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/01/databricks-raises-1b-at-28b-valuation-as-it-reaches-425m-arr/. 
  46. ↑ "Databricks raises $1.6B at $38B valuation as it blasts past $600M ARR" (in en-US). https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/31/databricks-raises-1-6b-at-38b-valuation-as-it-blasts-past-600m-arr/. 
  47. ↑ Nishant, Niket; Hu, Krystal (2023-09-14). "Databricks raises over $500 mln at $43 bln valuation" (in en-US). Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/technology/databricks-raises-over-500-mln-43-bln-valuation-2023-09-14/. 
  48. ↑ Tan, Huileng (December 18, 2024). "Databricks is raising a gigantic funding round". https://www.businessinsider.com/databricks-ai-series-j-tech-funding-round-valuation-ghodsi-thrive-2024-12. 
  49. ↑ Michael, Armbrust; Ghodsi, Ali; Xin, Reynold; Zaharia, Matei (January 2021). "Lakehouse: A New Generation of Open Platforms that Unify Data Warehousing and Advanced Analytics". Conference on Innovative Data Systems Research. http://cidrdb.org/cidr2021/papers/cidr2021_paper17.pdf. Retrieved July 29, 2021. 
  50. ↑ "With massive $1B infusion, Databricks takes aim at IPO and rival Snowflake" (in en-US). 2021-02-01. https://siliconangle.com/2021/02/01/massive-1b-infusion-databricks-takes-aim-ipo-rival-snowflake/. 
  51. ↑ Simone, Stephanie (2022-10-17). "Databricks achieves FedRAMP Authorized status". KMWorld (Information Today). https://www.kmworld.com/Articles/News/News/Databricks-achieves-FedRAMP-Authorized-status-155465.aspx. Retrieved 2022-10-20. 
  52. ↑ "The Two Sigma Ventures Open Source Index" (in en). https://twosigmaventures.com/open-source-index/. 
  53. ↑ "MLOps Tools - Ranking. OSS Insight" (in en). https://ossinsight.io/collections/ml-ops-tools. 
  54. ↑ "Databricks Cranks Delta Lake Performance, Nabs Redash for SQL Viz". 2020-06-24. https://www.datanami.com/2020/06/24/databricks-cranks-delta-lake-performance-nabs-redash-for-sql-viz/. 
  55. ↑ "Databricks launches Delta Lake, an open source data lake reliability project" (in en-US). 2019-04-24. https://venturebeat.com/2019/04/24/databricks-launches-delta-lake-an-open-source-data-lake-reliability-project/. 
  56. ↑ "Databricks launches SQL Analytics" (in en-US). 2020-11-12. https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/12/databricks-launches-sql-analytics-builds-itself-a-lake-house/. 
  57. ↑ Brust, Andrew. "Databricks, champion of data "lakehouse" model, closes $1B series G funding round" (in en). https://www.zdnet.com/article/databricks-champion-of-data-lakehouse-model-closes-1b-series-g-funding-round/. 
  58. ↑ "Riding the data-powered AI wave: Inside Databricks' unified stack solution" (in en-US). Databricks. 2024-03-14. https://siliconangle.com/2024/03/13/data-powered-ai-revolutionizing-enterprise-databricks-supercloud6/. 
  59. ↑ "Databricks Open Model License". 27 March 2024. https://www.databricks.com/legal/open-model-license. 
  60. ↑ "Databricks open-sources its own large language model, DBRX" (in en-US). Databricks. 2024-03-27. https://siliconangle.com/2024/03/27/databricks-open-sources-large-language-model/. 
  61. ↑ "Inside the Creation of the World's Most Powerful Open Source AI Model" (in en-US). Databricks. 2024-03-27. https://www.wired.com/story/dbrx-inside-the-creation-of-the-worlds-most-powerful-open-source-ai-model/. 
  62. ↑ "Databricks' new open-source AI model could offer enterprises a leaner alternative to OpenAI's GPT-3.5" (in en-US). Databricks. 2024-03-27. https://www.fastcompany.com/91070566/databricks-ai-model-enterprise. 
  63. ↑ "Databricks to run two massive online courses on Apache Spark" (in en-US). Databricks. 2014-12-02. https://databricks.com/blog/2014/12/02/announcing-two-spark-based-moocs.html. 
  64. ↑ "Data + AI Summit" (in en-US). https://databricks.com/dataaisummit. 
  65. ↑ Highlights from DATA+AI Summit 2021 Towards Data Science. June 27, 2021
  66. ↑ Novet, Jordan (2024-12-04). "Amazon rolls out Buy with AWS button to let software vendors more easily sell to its cloud customers" (in en). https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/04/amazon-will-sell-software-with-buy-with-aws-button-for-partner-sites.html. 
  67. ↑ "Databricks Announces Strategic AI Partnership with Google Cloud to Bring Data Intelligence Platform to Customers Worldwide". Databricks. 2025-06-11. https://www.databricks.com/company/newsroom/press-releases/databricks-announces-strategic-ai-partnership-google-cloud-bring. 



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