Databricks, the Data and AI Company, announced Databricks Ventures, a strategic investment vehicle that will foster the next generation of innovation and technology harnessing the power of data and AI. Its first fund, the Lakehouse Fund, will focus on early- and growth-stage companies extending the lakehouse ecosystem or using the lakehouse architecture to create the next generation of data and AI-powered companies. In addition to funding, portfolio companies will be eligible for exclusive product roadmap access, deep technical integrations and go-to-market support to take advantage of the growing momentum behind the lakehouse ecosystem.

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At the close of a year marked by $2.6B in funding for Databricks, the venture fund will allow the company to strategically invest in the ecosystem of startups building on the Databricks platform and its open source projects. These investments will enhance Databricks’ alignment with strategic product partners, better enabling the delivery of joint solutions to customers across industries. Without a cap on the fund, Databricks Ventures will aggressively seek out the most innovative companies and technologies with the goal of making this ecosystem thrive for the long-term benefit of the industry and customers. Databricks Ventures will also invest in projects and entrepreneurs that share Databricks’ commitment to open source and building on open platforms, much like the Databricks Lakehouse.

“Databricks has thrived thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit of our founders, and we intend to support the next wave of innovative startups and founders building the future of data, analytics, and AI, especially those within the open source community,” said Ali Ghodsi, co-founder and CEO of Databricks. “We look forward to working more closely with cutting-edge founders and teams that share our view of the future and our commitment to the lakehouse ecosystem.”

Investments from Databricks Ventures will be targeted toward startups raising early- through growth-stage funding rounds led by institutional venture capital firms. Portfolio companies will benefit from closer alignment with the growing lakehouse ecosystem and developer and open source communities; and can reach broader audiences by partnering with Databricks go-to-market programs. The Lakehouse Fund will help Databricks build close, long-term relationships that will deliver best-in-class product experiences to customers.

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