In the fight for AI databases, ClickHouse is valued at $15 billion

Database technology startup ClickHouse Inc. has raised $400 million in a fresh funding round, valuing the company at $15 billion, more than double its valuation of $6.35 billion in May last year. The sharp jump underscores strong investor interest in companies building core infrastructure for artificial intelligence applications.

The round was led by Dragoneer Investment Group, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, Index Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed, T. Rowe Price and WCM Investment Management. The company plans to formally announce the funding on Friday.

Spun out of Yandex more than four years ago, ClickHouse develops database software that enables companies to build and scale AI agents, a rapidly growing segment within enterprise technology. The startup competes with major data platform providers such as Databricks Inc. and Snowflake Inc.

ClickHouse will use the newly raised capital to accelerate product development and expand sales and marketing efforts, co-founder and chief executive officer Aaron Katz said. The company has also acquired Germany-based Langfuse GmbH, which develops open-source tools to monitor the accuracy and safety of AI outputs. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

“As you’re building an application, the next question is how you ensure quality output when it goes into production,” said Tanya Bragin, vice president of product and marketing at ClickHouse, highlighting the growing focus on AI safety and reliability.

The company’s customer base includes Meta Platforms Inc., Tesla Inc. and AI startup Anthropic PBC. Over the past three months, ClickHouse has added or expanded deals with startups such as Lovable and Polymarket.

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, ClickHouse also has offices in the Netherlands and other countries. More than half of its customers, revenue and employees are based outside North America, Katz said, allowing the company to deepen its focus on international markets.

In October, ClickHouse appointed Jimmy Sexton as chief financial officer. Sexton previously ran investor relations at Snowflake and has experience guiding companies through initial public offerings. Katz said, however, that ClickHouse is not yet ready to go public as it continues to invest heavily in growth and currently operates at a loss. The company has an annualised revenue run rate of several hundred million dollars, he added.

ClickHouse traces its origins to 2009, when it was developed as a database management system for Yandex. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Yandex’s Dutch parent company sold its Russian operations and rebranded as Nebius Group NV in 2024. Nebius now holds less than 30% stake in ClickHouse.

Dragoneer partner and co-head of private investments Christian Jensen said the firm spent months evaluating ClickHouse and speaking with its customers before leading the round. “We think the opportunity for this business is gargantuan,” Jensen said, adding that ClickHouse’s strength in real-time analytics makes it particularly well positioned to benefit from the AI boom.

While Dragoneer has invested in rivals such as Datadog, Snowflake and Databricks, Jensen said ClickHouse stands out for its real-time analytics capabilities and cost efficiency, especially as demand grows for instant insights in AI-driven applications.