The agentic AI wave just delivered another megaround. Databricks, the data analytics and AI company, said Thursday it has closed a $5 billion funding round at a $190 billion valuation — six months after raising $5 billion plus $2 billion in debt at a $134 billion valuation.
The company says it has now crossed a $7 billion revenue run rate and grew more than 80% year-over-year in the second quarter. CEO Ali Ghodsi told CNBC that "demand is crazy," pointing to enterprises everywhere deploying AI agents. "Everybody's using these agents, AI agents, and the whole world is laser focused on agents," he said.
Key products are riding that wave: Databricks' Lakebase database for AI agents has already passed a $100 million revenue run rate, while its Lakehouse data warehousing tool tops $1.5 billion. The company also highlighted its AI Gateway, which helps businesses control model usage and costs — a hot sell as "token maxing" bills alarm corporate finance chiefs. Ghodsi said the cost shock is also pushing customers to adopt Chinese open models they previously avoided.
The round was led by Coatue, Blackstone, MGX, T. Rowe Price and Sixth Street Growth. Databricks, ranked No. 3 on CNBC's 2026 Disruptor 50 list, has already surpassed public-market rival Snowflake in market value — yet it remains deliberately private. "We're not just a company that wants to stay in the private, but right now I just think there would be too much distraction in the public market," Ghodsi said.
Databricks is part of a wave of AI giants — alongside Anthropic and OpenAI, both of which have confidentially filed to go public — choosing to delay IPOs while private capital remains abundant. For now, the message from the boardroom is simple: agents first, IPO later.
