Growth Wanes at Instacart, GopuffRead more

Ali Ghodsi, co-founder and CEO of Databricks. Photo by Bloomberg.

Databricks Is Trimming Its Valuation While Other Startups Are Slashing Theirs

Photo: Ali Ghodsi, co-founder and CEO of Databricks. Photo by Bloomberg.

Valuations for a crop of high-profile startups have been falling fast, even according to their own internal assessments. But one company has been notably restrained in revising its valuation: cloud-based database software startup Databricks.

Databricks trimmed its internal share price this month, which lowered its implied valuation to $31 billion, about 7% lower than at the same time last year, a person familiar with the matter told The Information.

That’s far less dramatic than recent cuts by other startups, such as grocery-delivery service Instacart and payments giant Stripe. Even some of Databricks’ investors are more downbeat about the valuation: Fidelity slashed its calculation of what Databricks is worth 33% earlier this year. The situation puts the spotlight on how private tech company internal valuations are calculated, which is an issue for startup employees as internal assessments are used in calculation of employee stock compensation.

Access on the go
View stories on our mobile app and tune into our weekly podcast.
Join live video Q&A’s
Deep-dive into topics like startups and autonomous vehicles with our top reporters and other executives.
Enjoy a clutter-free experience
Read without any banner ads.
Art by Clark Miller.
Exclusive startups crypto
MoonPay CEO, Other Executives Cashed Out Before Crypto Business Dropped
In November 2021, just as crypto prices were hitting all-time highs, MoonPay—a crypto payments startup that celebrities including Jimmy Fallon and Paris Hilton had praised for its non-fungible token “concierge” service— announced it had completed its first ever outside fundraising: an eye-popping $555 million round at a $3.4 billion valuation from investors including Tiger Global Management and Coatue Management.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Photo by Bloomberg
semiconductors ai
Why Nvidia Aids Cloud Rivals of AWS, Google and Microsoft
Nvidia’s business of selling chips for artificial intelligence is going gangbusters, but the company faces a looming problem.
Instacart CEO Fidji Simo. Photo by Getty.
Exclusive startups Finance
Growth Wanes at Instacart, Gopuff
Grocery upstarts Instacart and Gopuff haven’t been able to deliver two things at once this year: growth and profits.
Tim Cook. Photo by Bloomberg
Exclusive apple ar/vr
Apple’s Learning Curve: How Headset’s Design Caused Production Challenges
If Apple unveils its long-awaited mixed-reality headset next week as expected, it will represent the company’s riskiest gamble on a new product since the iPhone.
Art by Clark Miller, Shutterstock (4)
Opinion ar/vr
Don’t Count the Metaverse Out
The technology hype cycle would have us believe that the metaverse—so recently the darling of digital trendsetters—is on the decline, its place usurped by generative artificial intelligence.
Mixed hydroxide precipitate, the go-to feedstock for battery nickel sulfate, on a conveyor belt at Indonesia's Harita Group, which pioneered the process. Photo: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg
The Electric electric vehicles
The Electric: Western Auto and Battery Makers’ Big Gamble on Indonesian Nickel
For much of the last century, metals companies have made stainless steel from nickel mined in Russia or the Philippines and smelted at temperatures up to 2,900 degrees.