HomeDatabricks Acquires Two Startups to Bolster New AI Security Product
Databricks, flush with cash from its $5 billion raise that closed last month (not to mention billions in revenue), is on an acquisition spree.
The company, best known for its cloud data analytics platform, announced Tuesday the launch of a new security product called Lakewatch. Lakewatch leverages Databricks' ability to store vast amounts of data and performs classic SIEM tasks — such as detecting and investigating threats — but with the help of AI agents powered by Anthropic's Claude.
Databricks acquired two startups to support this new product: Antimatter, in a previously undisclosed deal that closed last year, and SiftD.ai, in a deal that came together over the past couple of weeks and closed on Monday, the company told TechCrunch.
Terms were not disclosed for either acquisition. Antimatter, founded by security researcher Andrew Krioukov, raised $12 million in a round led by New Enterprise Associates in 2022, according to PitchBook estimates. If tiny SiftD.ai had raised any funding, PitchBook was not aware.
SiftD.ai was very young, having only launched its product in November: an interactive notebook (similar to Jupyter) designed as a tool for collaboration between humans and agents. The Databricks team knew the startup's co-founder and CEO, Steve Zhang, from his years as chief scientist at Splunk (through 2021). He created the Search Processing Language while there. (His LinkedIn also notes he was CTO of Astronomer, which was involved in the Coldplay CEO scandal, but he left in 2023 before founding SiftD.)
Both acquisitions were small startups — just a few people in SiftD's case and fewer than 50 for Antimatter, according to LinkedIn. SiftD appears to be an acqui-hire. With Antimatter, Databricks likely also gained some IP. Krioukov demonstrated Antimatter's technology onstage in 2024 at RSA's Innovation Sandbox Contest. Antimatter was building a "data control plane" tool that enables enterprises to deploy agents securely while protecting sensitive data.
While Databricks declined to disclose how many employees it acquired, it confirmed that the startups' employees did join the company. Krioukov, who has been at Databricks for months, is leading the Lakewatch team.
We asked Databricks if it would continue shopping for startups, and a spokesperson essentially said yes, that it continuously has its feelers out. “We’re always looking to what’s next — our goal is to stay ahead of the market and close gaps in what our customers need,” the spokesperson said.
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Databricks, flush with cash from its $5 billion raise that closed last month (not to mention billions in revenue), is on an acquisition spree.
The company, best known for its cloud data analytics platform, announced Tuesday the launch of a new security product called Lakewatch. Lakewatch leverages Databricks' ability to store vast amounts of data and performs classic SIEM tasks — such as detecting and investigating threats — but with the help of AI agents powered by Anthropic's Claude.
Databricks acquired two startups to support this new product: Antimatter, in a previously undisclosed deal that closed last year, and SiftD.ai, in a deal that came together over the past couple of weeks and closed on Monday, the company told TechCrunch.
Terms were not disclosed for either acquisition. Antimatter, founded by security researcher Andrew Krioukov, raised $12 million in a round led by New Enterprise Associates in 2022, according to PitchBook estimates. If tiny SiftD.ai had raised any funding, PitchBook was not aware.
SiftD.ai was very young, having only launched its product in November: an interactive notebook (similar to Jupyter) designed as a tool for collaboration between humans and agents. The Databricks team knew the startup's co-founder and CEO, Steve Zhang, from his years as chief scientist at Splunk (through 2021). He created the Search Processing Language while there. (His LinkedIn also notes he was CTO of Astronomer, which was involved in the Coldplay CEO scandal, but he left in 2023 before founding SiftD.)
Both acquisitions were small startups — just a few people in SiftD's case and fewer than 50 for Antimatter, according to LinkedIn. SiftD appears to be an acqui-hire. With Antimatter, Databricks likely also gained some IP. Krioukov demonstrated Antimatter's technology onstage in 2024 at RSA's Innovation Sandbox Contest. Antimatter was building a "data control plane" tool that enables enterprises to deploy agents securely while protecting sensitive data.
While Databricks declined to disclose how many employees it acquired, it confirmed that the startups' employees did join the company. Krioukov, who has been at Databricks for months, is leading the Lakewatch team.
We asked Databricks if it would continue shopping for startups, and a spokesperson essentially said yes, that it continuously has its feelers out. “We’re always looking to what’s next — our goal is to stay ahead of the market and close gaps in what our customers need,” the spokesperson said.
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