(Bloomberg) -- Thrive Capital is in talks to acquire a roughly $1 billion stake in analytics software maker Databricks Inc. in deal that would value the startup at about $55 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
Thrive is expected to lead a share sale, also known as a tender offer, for the company, said the people who asked not to be identified discussing private information. A tender offer is a type of deal that allows some early investors and employees to sell stakes to new investors.
Representatives for Thrive and Databricks declined to comment. The Information earlier reported some of the details of the tender offer.
The deal is Thrive’s latest major stake in a large Silicon Valley startup. The VC firm founded by Joshua Kushner led OpenAI’s tender offer, which closed earlier this year, and is a significant investor in payments platform Stripe Inc.
A $55 billion valuation for Databricks is a step up from last year’s value of $43 billion, when the company raised $500 million. The Snowflake Inc. competitor, which makes software and uses artificial intelligence to help companies organize and analyze large amounts of information, has been able to raise big sums from the private markets, giving it the option to hold off on an initial public offering.
In total, Databricks has raised more than $4 billion, according to data provider PitchBook. Existing investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures and New Enterprise Associates.
Snowflake, which went public in 2020, was initially met with significant investor enthusiasm and saw its shares soar. However, the company is now trading at a little more than a third of its market peak three years ago, with a market capitalization of about $44 billion. The two companies have a contentious rivalry.
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