The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own. Corrects chart to fix valuations for Anthropic and OpenAI.

By Pranav Kiran

TORONTO, June 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Databricks is choosing not to follow the crowd. The data and AI firm plans to tap private markets at a valuation of up to $175 billion, rather than go public this year. SpaceX SPCX.O is hogging the limelight with its blockbuster IPO, while Anthropic and OpenAI look to be next in line. CEO Ali Ghodsi is deft to turn to the capital left behind by major public exits. The other benefit is that it puts his company further ahead of rival Snowflake SNOW.N.

Ghodsi told Bloomberg 2026 is a “terrible” year to list. Databricks is still preparing an eventual initial public offering, but for now it is opting to raise fresh private capital at a $165 billion to $175 billion valuation, according to The Information. At the top end, that would mark a 30% jump from December's last raise and overtake payments firm Stripe.

The logic is straightforward. The number of global venture deals has fallen sharply, by some 44% since 2022, as funding has concentrated in $100 million-plus rounds. Much of that capital is flowing to a small group of companies geared toward artificial intelligence. In the first three quarters of 2025, roughly 44 cents of every venture dollar worldwide went to AI companies in North America, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization based on Pitchbook data. As SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI turn to public markets for financing, it frees up some of these big checks for the likes of Databricks.

Databricks has been preparing to go public since at least 2021, according to Bloomberg. Rival Snowflake listed in September 2020, but its shares have barely moved above their debut price. More recently, the stock slid 12.6% in the first week of February after Anthropic unveiled its Claude Cowork plugins. It suggests investors view Snowflake as a vulnerable subscription business, despite the company’s data storage products tailored for enterprise AI applications.

By postponing a market debut, Databricks would open the gap even more between its main rival. The mooted fundraise would value the company at over 30 times recurring revenue — roughly twice Snowflake’s current multiple of under 15 times. Some premium is justified, given Databricks is growing over twice as fast. But the two firms sell similar products. Databricks has found a way to take a lackluster private funding market and make the most of it.

CONTEXT NEWS

Data analytics software firm Databricks has discussed raising funds in a round that could begin next month and value it at between $165 billion and $175 billion, The Information reported on June 8, citing unnamed sources.

“We will be a public company. I just think this is a terrible year to go public,” CEO Ali Ghodsi told Bloomberg on June 4.