DATABRICKS, one of the world’s most valuable privately held tech companies, said on Wednesday (Jan 23) that it has raised more than US$15 billion from companies including Facebook owner Meta Platforms, a wide range of lenders and investment arms of Singapore and Qatar.
The company announced a US$10 billion equity fundraising in December but its latest announcement included investors that had not been previously known, as well as a US$5.25 billion debt component that Bloomberg News previously reported on.
Founded in 2013, Databricks makes software for gathering, analysing, and distributing data, an area that has grown hotter in recent years as artificial intelligence has grown more powerful.
It is one of a few large and mature companies in tech that has avoided an IPO and instead been able to repeatedly raise new money, even as investors have become more discerning the past few years. Its equity fund raise was a Series-J, further along the alphabet than most startups ever reach.
The size of its fundraising was unusually large, underscoring how companies that need to raise billions of US dollars of capital now do npt always need to go public or consent to the heavy disclosure associated with public ownership.
In addition to Meta, Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings, as well as entities managed by an arm of Australian bank Macquarie Group and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority – which was an existing investor – also participated in the equity round, according to the release. The round was led by Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global, GIC, Insight Partners and WCM Investment Management, according to a Dec 17 announcement.
The US$5.25 billion in debt financing came from both banks and private credit firms, another unusual component for a pre-IPO company. It consisted of a US$2.5 billion unfunded revolver and a US$2.75 billion term loan.
JPMorgan Chase, Barclays, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley were involved on the bank side, according to the company’s statement on Wednesday, while direct lenders included Blackstone, Apollo Global Management and Blue Owl Capital, according to Bloomberg’s prior reporting.
The San Francisco-based company, which is now valued at US$62 billion, plans to use the financing for business investments, acquisitions and international expansion, as well as offering employee shareholders liquidity and offsetting taxes from stock sales. BLOOMBERG
