Databricks has acquired Row Zero, bringing a governed, live-data spreadsheet into Genie just weeks after the company’s valuation hit $190bn.
San Francisco’s Databricks has acquired Row Zero, a spreadsheet tool built to connect business teams’ spreadsheets directly to live, governed data in a move to expand the capabilities of Genie, its AI coworker product. No financial details have been disclosed.
The deal will give Genie a native spreadsheet interface, letting users explore data, model scenarios and collaborate directly inside a familiar, Excel- and Google Sheets-like environment. Unlike a typical spreadsheet, Row Zero – which was founded by former AWS and Tableau engineers – connects to live, governed data sources, with queries honouring each user’s permissions and every interaction auditable, according to Databricks.
The company said the acquisition addresses what it called “spreadmarts” – ungoverned spreadsheet files that teams have long relied on to store or share data – which it argues create security and governance gaps as businesses deploy AI agents on sensitive company data.
“As more finance, operations, and go-to-market teams adopt Genie, incorporating a seamless spreadsheet experience is a must-have,” said Patrick Wendell, co-founder and VP of engineering at Databricks.
“When finance started doing all their work with Genie, we noticed that they were combining Genie with a Live Cloud Spreadsheet called Row Zero,” Databricks CEO and co-founder Ali Ghodsi said in a social media post. “This combination is really powerful. We met the Row Zero team and were blown away.”
Row Zero founder and CEO Breck Fresen said the team built the product because it wanted spreadsheets that could “seamlessly connect to enterprise-scale data with governance and security at the core”.
Row Zero will be available to Databricks customers across all major clouds and will continue to support data sources beyond Databricks’ own platform, the company said.
The acquisition follows a period of rapid growth for Databricks. The company closed a $5bn funding round in August at a $190bn valuation, up from $134bn just six months earlier, with backers including Coatue, Blackstone and MGX.
Founded in 2013, Databricks works with more than 20,000 organisations, including Adidas, AT&T, Bayer, Block, Mastercard and Unilever, and employs more than 500 staff across the UK and Ireland as part of its EMEA operations, headquartered in London.
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