Artificial intelligence startup DataRobot seeks to raise $500M – sources

DataRobot is in advanced discussions to raise fresh capital of about $500 million in a funding round that could value the machine learning startup at more than $7 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The new funding would more than double the company’s valuation of $2.7 billion from a November fundraiser, highlighting the robust investor appetite for fast-growing enterprise software companies.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has pushed people to work remotely, has accelerated the use of data tools provided by companies such as DataRobot.

Tiger Global, an existing investor in DataRobot, will participate in the round, which is expected to be the last private fundraiser before a stock market flotation of the company, the sources added.

Datarobot and Tiger Global declined to comment.

Founded in 2012, DataRobot offers a subscription-based machine learning platform to help companies use big data to perform predictive analytics, a process that otherwise would require manual effort.

It counts the likes of United Airlines and Deloitte among its customers. The company said last year that its annual recurring revenue was well over $100 million, after a pickup in growth during the pandemic.

The Boston-based startup has also undergone a top-level reshuffle in the past few months. Co-founder and longtime chief executive Jeremy Achin left in March to focus on “making major contributions to all matters of national security.”

Since then, Dan Wright, who joined the company as president in January 2020, has taken over as CEO. DataRobot also hired a new chief financial officer, Damon Fletcher, from data visualization software company Tableau as it prepares for a public listing, the sources said.

Fletcher, Tableau’s former finance chief, led the company through its $15.7 billion sale to Salesforce in 2019.

DataRobot has raised over $740 million to date, according to data platform PitchBook. Its backers include Altimeter Capital, T. Rowe Price, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Silver Lake Waterman, NEA and Sapphire Ventures. – Rappler.com