Databricks, a US-based data analytics software developer that counts a host of corporate backers as investors having raised $2.6bn this year at a $38bn valuation, has set up its corporate venturing unit.
Databricks Ventures’ first strategic investment vehicle, Lakehouse Fund, will focus on early- and growth-stage data and AI-powered companies raising rounds led by institutional venture capital firms and extending the company’s Lakehouse analytics ecosystem.
Without a cap on the fund, Databricks Ventures under , vice-president of corporate development and ventures, said it would “aggressively seek out the most innovative companies and technologies”.
Ali Ghodsi, co-founder and CEO of Databricks, said these entrepreneurs would be “building the future of data, analytics, and AI, especially those within the open source community”.
Databricks has more than 5,000 customers, including Comcast, Condé Nast, and H&M. In September, the data analytics software producer, which counts Alphabet, Salesforce and Amazon among as backers, raised a $1.6bn series H round at a $38bn valuation.
The company forms part of the broader big data and data tools space, which has seen much interest from corporate venture investors, according to GCV Analytics, and a wave of CVC fund launches in recent months, including Twilio and Zoom.
