Databricks, the data and AI company, today announced it was named to the 2020 CNBC Disruptor 50 list. The annual list features forward-thinking private companies that are growing quickly, identifying unexploited niches in the market, and innovating to change the world.
Databricks has seen tremendous growth and business momentum over the past few years as data teams across thousands of companies globally leverage its Unified Data Analytics Platform to achieve data science and machine learning. Last fall, the company raised $400 million in Series F investment and expanded globally to attract high-caliber talent in new technology hubs across the world. The company announced a 100 million Euro investment in its European Development Center headquartered in Amsterdam, opened a new Engineering Centre in Toronto, and deepened its leadership bench across Asia Pacific and Japan.
“We’re on an important mission to enable data teams around the world to collaborate and solve some of today’s toughest problems,” said Ali Ghodsi, co-founder and CEO of Databricks. “Never has this mission been proven more critical as we face both the global health and economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and rethink how we address social injustice across the nation. We’re committed to mobilizing and empowering data teams to aid in both fighting the pandemic and in considering the role ethical AI plays in how we hire and build future teams. This recognition is validation that our work has made a significant impact on society, but we know we’re just at the beginning of the work we can do to help teams solve more hard problems.”
Databricks helps organizations make all their data ready for analytics and empower data-driven decisions that can help solve some of our biggest challenges across many industries. Global organizations such as Nielsen, Hotels.com, Bechtel, Shell, and HP run on Databricks to unify data teams so they can innovate faster. Some aspiring use cases across key industries include:
- Enabling smarter research and drug development: Databricks is helping the life sciences industry harness the power of big data and AI to accelerate research in genomics and drug discovery. Life sciences organizations can now build machine learning models on top of diverse data sets of real-world data to improve trial design, disease identification, medication adherence, and more.
- Tailoring and securing retail shopping experiences: The company enables personalized recommendations, optimization of pricing and promotions, and prevention of retail fraud including credit card fraud and cyberattacks by detecting anomalous behavior with real-time analytics and AI.
- Addressing fraud in the financial services industry: With Databricks, financial services companies can make smarter, faster decisions that reduce risk, protect against fraud, improve investments, and personalize experiences.
- Fueling efficiencies for oil and gas companies: Databricks unlocks new efficiencies for oil and gas companies in discovery, extraction, and downstream delivery of energy — all while mitigating risk and reducing operational downtime.
Databricks has received notable recognition for its product and business growth over the past year, including being ranked a fastest-growing company in North America on Deloitte’s 2019 Technology Fast 500 list and named a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Data Science and Machine Learning Platforms. The company made many lists for its positive, team-oriented culture over the past year, including the 2020 Inc. Best Workplaces list, the 2020 Forbes Best Startup Employers List, and the 2019 LinkedIn Top Startups List.
To determine nominees for the CNBC Disruptor 50, organizations were put through a comprehensive, rigorous process of researching and scoring across a wide range of quantitative and qualitative criteria, including scalability, revenue and user growth and workforce diversity. An advisory board made up of leading thinkers in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship provided weighting for the quantitative criteria, while a team of more than 50 CNBC editorial staff read submissions and provided qualitative assessments of every single nominee.
For the full list of CNBC Disruptor companies, please visit: 2020 CNBC Disruptor 50.
