The substantial transaction indicates backers’ eagerness for firms that power AI-driven applications and rival entities such as Databricks Inc. and Snowflake Inc. ClickHouse, established as a separate venture from Yandex NV over four years prior, engineers database software employed by businesses to construct AI agents, representing one of the swiftest-growing domains within the tech sphere.
The financing was spearheaded by Dragoneer Investment Group, alongside involvement from Bessemer Venture Partners, Singapore-based GIC, Index Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed, T. Rowe Price, and WCM Investment Management. The organization intends to issue a formal declaration on Friday.
ClickHouse’s valuation has increased by several billion dollars from May, when Khosla Ventures and other investors assessed the company at $6.35 billion. The obtained capital will be channeled toward expediting product enhancement and bolstering sales and promotion, stated co-founder and CEO Aaron Katz. ClickHouse is also set to procure German startup Langfuse GmbH, which has devised an open-source solution for confirming the precision and protection of AI outcomes. Katz chose not to reveal the specifics of the agreement.
The matter of security and caliber in AI output data is progressively gaining prominence for tech enterprises, mentioned Tanya Bragin, ClickHouse Vice President of Product and Marketing: “Upon establishing an application, the subsequent inquiry becomes, when introducing it into practical use, how can one ensure it consistently yields top-tier results? This concern occupies my thoughts regularly.”
ClickHouse’s clientele encompasses Meta Platforms Inc., Tesla Inc., and Anthropic PBC. Over the last quarter, the firm has similarly finalized novel or broadened pre-existing arrangements with emerging companies Lovable and Polymarket. ClickHouse maintains its headquarters in Silicon Valley and possesses branches in the Netherlands and other nations.
“A distinguishing attribute of our enterprise is that exceeding half of our patrons, more than half of our earnings, and over half of our personnel are situated beyond North America,” Katz conveyed. “This empowers us to more vigorously cultivate international markets.”
In October, the company enlisted Jimmy Sexton as CFO. He formerly directed investor interactions at Snowflake and facilitated the IPO preparation of two businesses, Katz indicated. ClickHouse isn’t yet poised to be publicly traded and desires to refine a collection of metrics beforehand. “We are still functioning at a deficit due to considerable investment in the future,” he expressed. The company’s yearly revenue surge is “several hundred million dollars.”
ClickHouse’s narrative commenced in 2009, with the conception of a database management framework for Yandex. Subsequent to Russia’s incursion into Ukraine, the Dutch-domiciled Yandex NV, the leading entity of the Russian search titan, divested the Russian sector. In 2024, the business rebranded as Nebius Group NV, currently holding less than 30% of ClickHouse.
Dragoneer has been scrutinizing hundreds of firms for prospective AI infrastructure allocations and has devoted months assessing ClickHouse and engaging with its customer base, articulated Dragoneer partner and co-head of private equity Christian Jensen. Following the prior investment phase, Dragoneer invited ClickHouse executives to deliberate and ultimately disclosed its intention to contribute capital. “We ascertain the prospects of this venture as substantial. It’s infrequent to encounter a company experiencing such rapid expansion and engaged within a market of this magnitude,” he commented.
Dragoneer has previously invested in certain ClickHouse's rivals, including Datadog, Snowflake, and Databricks, but according to Jensen, ClickHouse presently delivers the superior real-time analytics.
“All these enterprises persist in successfully advancing their essential operations, yet ClickHouse’s immediate data analysis remains singular. And the surge of AI, coupled with society’s yearning for prompt outcomes, renders ClickHouse particularly impactful,” he highlighted, further stating that the company’s solution is also more economical compared to substitutes.