Databricks is one of the world's most valuable unicorns, fetching a $62 billion mark late last year. It's also become a top unicorn hunter, acquiring three startups for at least $1 billion.

• The latest prize is database provisioning startup Neon, whose CEO Nikita Shamgunov has said that 80% of the databases created on Neon are created by AI agents instead of humans.

Databricks co-founder and CEO Ali Ghodsi hopped on Zoom to discuss the Neon deal and his company's broader M&A strategy. What follows is part of our conversation, edited for length and clarity:

Dan: What's the backstory to this deal?

Ali: "I've known Nikita for 15 years. We were contemporaries starting companies at around the same time. He started MemSQL, which was renamed later to SingleStore, and I remember even back then thinking that they'd really figured out how to do things that scale and have solid engineers. So we stayed in touch.

• "I later met him at some AI event and he said he's just going to go for this new crazy idea, and I thought, 'He's not going to be able to pull this off, that's too complicated.' But here we are and he did it.
• "The thing that was difficult about it was he really wanted to take Postgres, which is this popular open-source project, and wanted to completely rearchitect it under the hood for the agentic AI era."

There's a giant "vibe coding" boom, which drove the pending OpenAI-WindSurf deal. Did you feel pressure to do a related acquisition?

"No. I mean we had invested in Neon, as did other strategics, and so the question was if you could really get ROI, which became a no-brainer when you see what people are doing with it.

• "It's related, that deal, in the sense that people are doing vibe coding which means they aren't really coding. AI is coding. And it turns out that the vast majority of AI's go and create Neon databases."

What the deal competitive?

"I think so, yes."

Antitrust issues have caused a lot of Big Tech companies to cut back on M&A. Has that opened a lane for you?

"I think that the founders of these companies also prefer working at companies like Databricks than at an enormous hyperscaler. If you're entrepreneurial and want to change the world, who don't go to one of the giants."

You're worth $65 billion. Not exactly a lemonade stand.

"We are still a startup. At these big companies, you'll get sucked into the whole corporate ladder climbing."

Was the Neon deal cash, stock or a combination?

"Largely stock, unfortunately. My board is pushing me, don't give up any more equity. You should just do cash deals, which is why we just raised this $15 billion round.

• "On the selling side, the founders and their boards and VCs just want equity."

This is the third straight year you've done a billion-dollar acquisition, following MosaicML in 2023 and Tabular for $1.8 billion in 2024. Does that mean you're done for 2025?

"I don't think we have any limitations like that. If there's an amazing team on the other side that we really gel with, and a product that's an amazing fit with what we're building. ... Of course the price can't be completely unreasonable, but if those three things match, I think we have room for much, much more."

Is there another one being seriously looked at internally?

"Always. There is intense focus on M&A at Databricks."

Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS) agreed to acquire rival retailer Foot Locker (NYE: FL) for around $2.4 billion.

Why it's the BFD: The entire sneaker industry is getting squeezed by tariffs, and this merger could result in additional pricing pressures on producers.

• It's also the second giant footwear deal already this month, following 3G Capital's $9 billion Skechers buyout.

Details: Foot Locker shareholders can receive either $24 in cash or 0.1168 shares of Dick's stock — reminiscent of the optionality given to Skechers shareholders.

• Foot Locker shares closed trading yesterday at $12.87, while Dick's was at $209.61.

The bottom line: "While both chains rely heavily on selling sneakers, a combination would bring together two companies with vastly different business models. Foot Locker is a 2,400-store chain made up of mostly smaller locations in cities around the world, whereas Dick's is comprised of roughly 800 big-box stores in suburbs across the US." — Bloomberg

• Harvey, an SF-based legal AI startup, is in talks to raise $250m at a $5b valuation co-led by Kleiner Perkins and Coatue, per Reuters. This is just months after a Sequoia-led round at a $3b valuation. axios.link/3YOhBiF

• Entrata, a Lehi, Utah-based provider of property management software for the multifamily industry, raised $200m from Blackstone at a $4.3b valuation. axios.link/3YOeWpj

🚑 Cohere Health, a Boston-based provider of clinical admin automation tools, raised $90m in Series C funding. Temasek led, joined by Deerfield Management, Define Ventures, Flare Capital Partners, Longitude Capital, and Polaris Partners. axios.link/4j8WbUN

• Flock Freight, an Encinitas, Calif.-based shared truckload freight brokerage, raised $60m in Series E funding. O'Neil Strategic Capital led, joined by Susquehanna Private Equity Investments, SignalFire, GLP Capital Partners, and Bracket Capital. axios.link/43ikfif

Somite, a developer of foundation models for the human cell, raised $47m in Series A funding. Khosla Ventures led, joined by SciFi VC, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Fusion Fund, Ajinomoto Group Ventures, Pitango HealthTech, TechAviv, Harpoon Ventures, Martin Chavez, and Fidji Simo. axios.link/4khtd5Z

• Granola, an AI notetaking app, raised $43m in Series B funding at a $250m valuation. NFDG led, joined by insiders Lightspeed Venture Partners and Spark Capital. axios.link/3ET6XR9

• Samaya AI, an AI platform for financial services, raised $43.5m led by NEA. axios.link/3S3xFth

• Nortian, a Missouri-based collagen production startup, raised $41m. AJ Hollander led, joined by Integrated Partners and XPTO. axios.link/4jWhWbK

🚑 Therini Bio, a South SF-based vascular injury biotech, raised $39m in Series A extension funding from Angelini Ventures, Apollo Health Ventures, SV Health Investors, Dementia Discovery Fund, Dolby Family Ventures, Eli Lilly, Foundation for a Better World, MRL Ventures Fund, and Sanofi Ventures therinibio.com

• Arkestro, an SF-based predictive procurement platform, raised $36m led by Altira Group and Aramco Ventures, with participation from existing investors NEA, KDT and Activant. axios.link/3Zh9QSy

• Hedra, an SF-based AI video generation platform, raised $32m in Series A funding. A16z led, joined by speedrun, Abstract, and Index Ventures. axios.link/4kerfmY

• Origin, a London-based employee benefits management platform, raised $21m in Series A funding. Felix Capital led, joined by Acadian Ventures and Notion Capital. originbenefits.com

⚡Reflect Orbital, a Hawthorne, Calif.-based space energy startup, raised $20m in Series A funding. Lux Capital led, joined by Sequoia Capital and Starship Ventures. Flashback

• Openlayer, an SF-based platform for evaluation and governance of enterprise AI systems, raised $14.5m in Series A funding. Race Capital led, joined by NXTP, KPN Ventures, Mindset, Y Combinator, Quiet Capital, and Telefonica. openlayer.com

• Metafoodx, a San Jose, Calif.-based startup focused on reducing foodwaste in commercial kitchens, raised $9.4m led by Trustbridge Partners, with participation from BlueRun Ventures and ScalableVision Capital. metafoodx.com

• Finwave, a developer of gallium nitride-based chips, raised $8.2m from Fine Structure Ventures, Engine Ventures, and Safar Partners. finwavesemi.com

• TaleMonster Games, a Turkish maker of casual mobile puzzle games, raised $7m in seed funding. General Catalyst led, joined by a16z speedrun, Arcadia, and Ludus Ventures. axios.link/3ZgNIaQ

• Layer, an AI app gateway for game developers, raised $6.5m in seed funding led by Arcadia with e2.vc also participating. layer.ai

• Nekuda, a developer of infrastructure for agentic payments, raised $5m. Madrona Ventures led, joined by Amex Ventures and Visa Ventures. nekuda.ai

🌎 Riverse, a French carbon crediting platform, raised €5m in seed funding co-led by Alven and Racine. axios.link/4jZnL8e

• Akeno, a German provider of production planning software, raised €4.5m in seed funding. Cusp Capital led, joined by TS Ventures and Another VC. axios.link/4kfZ3jv

⚡ Voltra, a Canadian grid software startup, raised US$1.8m in pre-seed funding led by Contrary, with Hanover Capital and Velocity Fund participating. axios.link/4dnhZuC

• Bain Capital abandoned its A$2.7b takeover effort for Australian financial services firm Insignia Financial (ASX: IFL), which is continuing talks with CC Capital, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3H8pBF4

🚑 Carlyle and SK Capital Partners sweetened the upfront portion of their $49m takeover offer for Bluebird Bio (Nasdaq: BLUE), a Somerville, Mass.-based gene therapy company once valued north of $10b. axios.link/4ds0l91

🚑 Crest Rock Partners invested in Productive Programming, a Verona, Wis.-based provider of software to health-care and other benefits organizations. ppi.com

• IX Capital Partners invested in Lenexa, Kan.-based electrical services provider Teague Electric. teagueelectric.com

⚽ Lenore Sports Partners acquired a 5.24% stake in Portuguese soccer club owner Benfica SAD. axios.link/4kerw9u

• Pfingsten acquired American Cutting Edge, a Miamisburg, Ohio-based distributor of industrial knives. axios.link/44ES8vR

• Press Ganey Forsta, a portfolio company of Ares and Leonard Green & Partners, is acquiring InMoment, a South Jordan, Utah-based customer experience data company, from Madison Dearborn Partners. pressganey.com

• Proofpoint, owned by Thoma Bravo, agreed to acquire Hornetsecurity, a German cloud security and compliance SaaS, from TA Associates, PSG Equity, and Verdane. proofpoint.com

🌎 Renaissance Partners and TPG Rise Climate agreed to acquire a control stake in SICIT Group, an Italian maker of production of biostimulants for the leather industry. axios.link/3S1FS10

⚡ Stonepeak and Energy Equation Partners agreed to acquire a 65% stake in Jet, a fuel retailer in Germany and Austria, from Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) at a €2.5b enterprise value. axios.link/4djpq5P

• Axiom Intelligence Acquisition 1, a SPAC targeting European infrastructure, filed for a $150m IPO. axios.link/43uaRsW

• Blue Acquisition, a SPAC targeting manufacturing and data centers, filed for a $150m IPO. axios.link/3ZhKh3K

• MNTN, an Austin, Texas-based provider of TV advertising software, set IPO terms to 11.7m shares at $14-$16. It would have a $1.3b fully diluted market value, were it to price in the middle, and plans to list on the NYSE (MNTN). the company raised over $200m in VC funding from firms like Baroda Ventures, Mercato Partners, Greycroft, Qualcomm, Bonfire Ventures, Fidelity, and Staley Capital. axios.link/3Z8jjeQ

• Renatus Tactical Acquisition I, a tech SPAC led by individuals associated with Trump Media & Technology Group, raised $210m in an upsized IPO. axios.link/41vE1pw

• Thayer Ventures Acquisition II, a travel and transportation SPAC formed by Thayer Ventures, raised $175m in its IPO. axios.link/3FyuhU8

• Carlyle is in advanced talks to sell Italian fashion brand Twinset to Borletti Group and Quadrivio for just under €200m, per Reuters. axios.link/3ZmBhKH

• Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) agreed to acquire Convergence, an AI agent startup that had raised $12m from Balderton Capital, Salesforce Ventures and Shopify Ventures. axios.link/3GUdziJ

🚑 WindRose Health Investors sold Workplace Options, a Raleigh, N.C.-based provider of employee wellbeing solutions, to TELUS Health for around $425m. workplaceoptions.com

• CookUnity, a New York-based meal delivery platform, acquired smart fridge tech company Fraîche. CookUnity backers include Endeavor Catalyst, IDCV, and Relay Ventures. cookunity.com

⚡ Enbridge (TSX: ENB) agreed to sell a 12.5% stake in a natural gas pipeline in British Columbia to Indigenous communities for C$715m. axios.link/4mjl2rQ

⚡ Strathcona Resources (TSX: SCR) acquired Hardisty Rail Terminal for $45m. It also sold its its Montney assets to ARC Resources (TSX: ARX) and Tourmaline Oil (TSX: TOU) for a combined $2.84b. axios.link/4j5KnTh

⚡ TenneT, a state-owned Dutch power grid operator, is seeking to sell a minority stake in its German unit for upwards of €12b, per Reuters. axios.link/3FcyFZ5

• Archer of Los Angeles is raising up to $150m for its fourth direct and secondary VC fund, per an SEC filing.

• Crestline Investors of Dallas raised $3.5b for its fourth direct lending fund. crestlineinvestors.com

• Dynamo Ventures of Chattanooga, Tenn., raised $54m for its third fund. It also promoted Madelyn O'Farrell to principal and hired Bola Adegbulu (ex-AI Fund) as a principal. dynamo.vc

• EV3, a New York-based VC firm, is raising up to $70m for its second fund, per an SEC filing.

• Inflexion raised £2.3b for a multi-asset continuation fund. Included portfolio companies are: Aspen Pumps, Rosemont Pharma, Ocorian, and CNX Therapeutics. axios.link/430tPaz

🦞 Lobster Capital, a VC firm focused on YC startups, is raising up to $50m for its second fund, per an SEC filing.

• Nexa Equity, an SF-based private equity firm, raised over $390m for its second fund. nexaequity.com

• PX3 Partners, a London-based PE firm, raised €500m for its debut fund. px3partners.com

• Astorg said that co-founder and CEO Thierry Timsit will become executive chairman, while Benjamin Cordonnier becomes CEO. It also named Cordonnier and Judith Charpentier as co-managing partners. axios.link/4mp7k6T

• Deutsche Bank named Samuel Kim as global head of M&A. He succeeds Alison Harding-Jones, who recently became co-head of investment banking. axios.link/4dfGrOl

• Rahul Sawhney joined Aterian Investment Partners as a Miami-based managing director. He previously spent 16 years with Z Capital Group. axios.link/4klASQX