Databricks acquires two startups to strengthen its AI security platform

Backed by a massive $5 billion funding round completed last month, along with billions in ongoing revenue, Databricks is accelerating its acquisition strategy.

On Tuesday, the company announced the launch of a new security product called Lakewatch. The platform builds on Databricks’ core strength in handling large-scale data and applies it to traditional Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) functions, such as threat detection and investigation. What sets Lakewatch apart is its use of AI agents powered by Claude, developed by Anthropic.

To support the development of Lakewatch, Databricks has acquired two startups: Antimatter and SiftD.ai. Antimatter was acquired in a deal that closed last year but had not been publicly disclosed until now, while SiftD.ai was acquired more recently, with the transaction finalised on Monday. Financial terms for both deals were not revealed.

Antimatter, founded by security researcher Andrew Krioukov, raised $12 million in 2022 with backing from New Enterprise Associates, according to PitchBook estimates. The company focused on building a “data control plane” — a system that enables enterprises to deploy AI agents securely while safeguarding sensitive information. Krioukov had previously demonstrated the technology at the RSA Innovation Sandbox Contest in 2024.

SiftD.ai, on the other hand, was a very early-stage startup that had only launched its product in November. Its offerings are centred on an interactive notebook environment, similar to a Jupyter Notebook, designed to enable collaboration between humans and AI agents. Databricks was already familiar with SiftD.ai’s co-founder and CEO, Steve Zhang, who previously served as chief scientist at Splunk and was known for creating the company’s Search Processing Language.

Zhang’s background also includes a stint as CTO at Astronomer, though he left in 2023 before founding SiftD.ai.

Both acquisitions involved relatively small teams. SiftD.ai had only a handful of employees, while Antimatter had fewer than 50, according to LinkedIn data. The SiftD.ai deal appears to be largely an acqui-hire, while Antimatter likely contributed both talent and intellectual property to Databricks’ expanding security capabilities. Databricks confirmed that employees from both startups have joined the company. Krioukov, who has already been working at Databricks for several months, is now leading the Lakewatch initiative.

When asked about future acquisition plans, the company indicated that it remains actively on the lookout for new opportunities. A spokesperson said Databricks is continuously exploring ways to stay ahead of market demands and fill gaps in its product offerings.

With the introduction of Lakewatch and the integration of these newly acquired technologies, Databricks is positioning itself to compete more aggressively in the growing AI-powered cybersecurity space.