Cribl Gets $319M on $3.5B Valuation to Boost Data Management

A data management upstart led by an ex-Splunk product manager raised $319 million to accelerate product development, expand globally and enhance infrastructure to support growth.

See Also: Live Webinar | Adapting Firewalls and Proxy Gateways in the Zero Trust Era

San Francisco-based Cribl helps large organizations manage growing volumes of IT and security data efficiently. A Google Ventures-led Series E funding follows Cribl hitting $100 million in annual recurring revenue and boosts the company’s valuation to $3.5 billion, up 40% from May 2022, when the company hauled in $150 million of Series D proceeds (see: Cribl Raises $150M to Incubate New Observability Features).

“Cribl is quickly becoming the leader in a massive market that’s looking for new solutions and a different way of managing data,” co-founder and CEO Clint Sharp said in a blog post Tuesday. “Our products are purpose-built for IT and Security, who are often underserved by the market despite being critically important to the enterprise.” The company began as a modern alternative to Splunk, but it has expanded offerings into adjacent markets including data lakes and now occupies a unique position in the observability market.

Founded in 2018, Cribl employs more than 700 people and grew recurring revenue by 163% over the past four years. It has raised more than $600 million. Sharp has led the firm since its inception after spending the previous five years running Splunk’s product management division. In conjunction with the Series E round, Google Ventures General Partner Michael McBride will join Cribl’s board of directors.

The company pitch is that it addresses the challenges posed by the rapid growth of enterprise data, which is increasing by 28% annually. Cribl says its technology helps enterprises manage the data deluge by providing tools that large organizations can use to analyze, collect, process and route IT and security data.

“With this additional capital, we’re doubling down on that mission and helping customers resolve that tension while giving them choice, control, and flexibility,” Sharp said in the blog post.

Company products are designed to be vendor-agnostic, giving customers the flexibility to use their preferred tools and platforms while managing and analyzing data more effectively. Cribl has seen triple-digit customer growth for five consecutive years. One-quarter of Fortune 500 companies use its technology, and it boasts net dollar retention of 130%, indicating existing customers are expanding use.

“There’s no better proof that we’re onto something big than when the world’s largest enterprises bake Cribl into their infrastructures,” Sharp said. “We’re proud to be mission-critical infrastructure for so many leading companies.”

How AI Is Reshaping Data Management

In the last year, Cribl saw a 300% increase in customers purchasing multiple products across its portfolio, showcasing its expanding influence in data management. Cribl’s product suite includes observability tool Cribl Stream, vendor-neutral agent Cribl Edge, search-in-place solution Cribl Search, and turnkey data lake Cribl Lake, according to the company (see: How Cribl Lake Transformed IT and Security Data Management).

Cribl seeks to redefine how enterprises handle data, carving out a new category in data management that helps companies dealing with massive amounts of data generated by modern technologies such as AI and IoT.

Sharp said Cribl wants to help companies manage this data surge from AI, IoT and cloud computing without overwhelming their IT and security teams. The Series E funding will enable the company to continue innovating and scaling, ensuring that IT and security teams can better manage their data as enterprise needs grow and evolve, according to Sharp.

“We’re here for the critically important but often underserved IT and security practitioners who keep businesses running,” Sharp said. “And we’ll continue to innovate to meet your needs.”