Private software giant Databricks is now worth $190 billion thanks to a new funding round. The valuation jump is good news for early backers of the Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) competitor, which includes Nancy Pelosi, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Cathie Wood.
Early Databricks Backers Up Big
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) disclosed a holding in Databricks via Forge Investments on March 4, 2024. The investment, made by her husband and venture capitalist Paul Pelosi, was listed as being in a range of $1 million to $5 million.
The Forge Investments website shows a value of $73.50 per share for Databricks and a $43.4 billion valuation for the September 2023 funding round, and, in 2024, around the time the Pelosis invested.
While the exact valuation of the Pelosis’ investment is unknown, the stake was likely made near the $43 billion mark.
Based on the new post-money value of $190 billion, Databricks shares have risen 558.8% in private markets since the 2023 funding round. That would make the $1 million to $5 million investment now worth $5.59 million to $27.94 million, suggesting the Pelosis’ holding has likely appreciated by $4.59 million to $22.9 million.
Ark Invest also holds shares of the company via the Ark Venture Fund (ARKVX). The Cathie Wood-led fund also picked up the stake in the September 2023 funding round. This means Ark Invest is also up 558.8% on its original investment.
Databricks is currently the 13th largest holding in the Ark Venture Fund at 2.3% of total assets.
Nvidia also took an initial stake in the 2023 funding round, and is sitting on a similar gain as Pelosi and Wood. It is unknown exactly how much of Databricks Nvidia owns.
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Investing in Databricks
As a pre-IPO company, investors have limited ways to buy into Databricks. The Ark Venture Fund is one of those ways.
Another option is the Robinhood Ventures Fund (NYSE:RVI), which invests in private companies. Databricks is currently the fund’s top holding at 12.71% of assets.
The software firm has had multiple funding rounds over the last two years, finding strong demand from investors.
Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi said recently the company remains on track for an IPO, which could come as early as next year.
New Funding Round
The new $5 billion funding round that values the company at $190 billion was led by Coatue, with participation from Blackstone, MGX, accounts advised by T. Rowe Price and Sixth Street Growth, a new investor in the company.
Databricks recently surpassed a $7 billion run-rate, with growth of more than 80% year-over-year for the key metric in the second quarter.
The company said the new funding will go towards building Lakebase, Genie and Unity AI Gateway, which will help the company’s position in the AI agents space for large corporations.
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Pelosi, Databricks: Shutterstock; Wood, Courtesy Ark Invest
