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Databricks has made a significant impact with its recently closed $10 billion funding round. This has sparked intense interest among technology investors regarding the company's highly anticipated IPO. In an event in San Francisco on Tuesday night, Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi shed light on the company's decision to wait until at least 2025 to go public.

Why the Wait?

"This year being an election year led us to seek some stability. People were worried about interest rates and inflation. It didn't make sense to IPO this year, so we decided to wait," explained Ghodsi during an interview with Dan Primack at the Axios AI Summit. "The earliest possible IPO would be next year, but with lock-up periods, it would be a long wait for employees to get liquidity."

Using the Funding

Databricks is utilizing this "Series J" round to allow early employees to cash out while continuing to grow. Despite the uncertainty in 2024, IPOs of companies like ServiceTitan and Reddit have been largely successful.

Raising More Than Expected

Ghodsi revealed that this latest round could have been nearly double the amount. Investors were eager to invest, driving up the share price. The data analytics company initially aimed to raise $3 billion to $4 billion, but reports about their fundraising efforts sparked intense interest. "I saw an Excel sheet with a tally of all the people wanting to invest. It was $19 billion of interest! I was shocked. We hadn't even talked to everyone yet," said Ghodsi. This led to an increase in the share price.

IPO Possibilities in 2025 or 2026

Even after the impressive fundraise, Ghodsi is not ruling out an IPO in 2025. He believes that going public is not as crucial as it was 10 to 15 years ago, as indicated by this record-breaking round. However, he also said it could be 2026. He is cautious not to rush an IPO before the "AI bubble" bursts. "It's peak AI bubble. It's obvious that a company with just a few people and no product or innovation is not worth billions. Some startups are getting billion-dollar valuations with nothing. That's a bubble," said Ghodsi.

Competing with Giants

Databricks is now chasing bigger competitors with products that rival enterprise giants like Salesforce and Microsoft. Ghodsi believes that data and AI will play an increasingly important role in people's lives each year, and his company is well-positioned to fill this niche. "We had a program called 'SnowMelt' to steal business from Snowflake. We demonized them, but that's in the past. Now, we're focused on growing and competing," said Ghodsi.The Databricks CEO is confident that his company and its valuation can withstand the test of time. Despite the presence of many AI unicorns this year, he remains unfazed.