Lakehouse supplier Databricks says it has seen over 70 percent year-over-year growth for its EMEA region business in its latest fiscal year, without providing numbers. It is now moving to bump up its physical presence in the region with new hubs for staff, to help along further growth.
Last September, privately funded Databricks completed a Series I funding round, raising over $500 million. That funding at the time valued the company at $43 billion.
Globally, Databricks claims to have it generated over $1.6 billion in revenue for its fiscal year ending 31 January, 2024. That figure represented over 50 percent year-over-year growth.
The period saw the firm acquire a string of companies, which will no doubt boost the topline. It bought MosaicML, Arcion, Okera, Einblick and Rubicon. It also recently invested in French-based Mistral AI, and announced the launch of DBRX, an open source, general-purpose large language model (LLM), to help feed its increased business in AI-driven data management.
In EMEA, there is said to be “an increased appetite” for Databricks SQL, the “intelligent data warehouse”. Built with “data intelligence engine” DatabricksIQ, the firm claims Databricks SQL “democratizes” analytics for technical and business users alike.
AXA, FrieslandCampina, Gousto, HSBC, LaLiga, L’Oréal, Michelin, Rolls Royce, Shell, and Unilever have adopted this platform to help improve their business outcomes. Databricks has helped grow this type of business through global system integrators, including Accenture, Avanade, Capgemini, Deloitte, and EY, and in partnership with business software heavyweights like Salesforce and SAP.
To help the handling of all this company data activity in the region, Amazon Web Services datacenter capacity has been acquired in Paris and Azure capacity in Qatar, it said.
“There can be no generative AI without good data. Our technology is a critical enabler for businesses across EMEA to stand out from their competitors, scale AI, and recognise tangible business outcomes,” said Samuel Bonamigo, senior vice president and general manager, for Databricks EMEA. “We’ve had the pleasure to work with such a strong ecosystem of partners and customers across the region.”
“Working with Databricks has created a step change in terms of how our internal stakeholders view data and AI”, added customer Paul Hollands, chief data and analytics officer at AXA UK. “We previously had a disparate set of data platforms that didn’t scale, making it difficult to fully leverage machine learning and data across the organisation.
“Databricks’ unified platform has enabled us to go from data engineering to data science really efficiently. This is pivotal to success in serving customers, supporting colleagues, and ultimately driving value for the business.”
To fuel progress in EMEA, Databricks announced a roadmap of new offices and office expansions for 2024, including a new seven-story EMEA headquarters in London, planned to open in the second-half of this year. This building will house 400 staff. The company will also open new offices in Madrid and Milan in H2, alongside moving to a brand new office space in Paris.
There are also plans to expand existing office space in Amsterdam, Belgrade, and Munich. Earlier this year, the company opened an engineering site in Zagreb.
