Philadelphia-based Dbt Labs, which develops an open-source data analytics tool, raises a $222M Series D at a $4.2B valuation led by Altimeter
Context & Ripple Effects
dbt Labs has been one of the fastest-repricing companies in data tooling: a $12.9M Series A in April 2020, a $29.5M Series B led by Sequoia that November, then a rebrand from Fishtown Analytics alongside a $150M Series C at a $1.5B valuation in June 2021.
By December, sources had it in talks for a Series D at a $6B valuation — nearly 4x its June mark. The round it actually closed, $222M at $4.2B led by Altimeter with Sequoia and a16z returning, lands roughly a third below that talked-about number, making this one of the cleaner data points on where late-stage pricing settled after the 2021 peak.
First-order effects
- dbt Labs banks $222M led by Altimeter with Sequoia, a16z, and Snowflake participating, but at a $4.2B valuation — a visible discount to the $6B mark it was shopping in December.
Second-order effects
- Snowflake taking part ties the warehouse vendor closer to the open-source transformation layer built on top of it, while rival data-analytics startups — Amplitude hit a comparable $4B just eight months earlier — now compete against a better-capitalized open-source incumbent.
Third-order effects
- The gap between the $6B ask and the $4.2B close suggests late-stage investors are repricing 2021-vintage marks rather than matching them, forcing high-growth data startups to either accept haircuts or stay private longer.
The trend: Data-infrastructure startups are still landing nine-figure rounds, but closing below their rumored marks as late-stage valuations reset from 2021 peaks.