Built-On Databricks Startup Challenge
Runs an annual Databricks customer competition for B2B pilots with opportunities for equity and cloud credits.
Eligibility · Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India +9 more
The Built-On Databricks Startup Challenge is an annual competition run by Databricks that targets current Databricks customers building B2B applications with Databricks as core platform infrastructure. The 2026 edition carried a prize pool exceeding $1 million: the top finalist companies were eligible to receive up to $600,000 in potential equity investment from Databricks Ventures, plus a separate pool of up to $500,000 in Databricks product credits distributed across finalists. The $600,000 represents an equity investment opportunity — Databricks Ventures takes a stake — not a non-dilutive prize.
To enter, companies must be current Databricks customers, founded within the last five years, at pre-seed through Series B stage, and incorporated in one of 15 eligible countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, or the United States. System integrators, current Databricks employees, and companies already invested in by Databricks Ventures are ineligible. The 2026 cycle opened March 23, 2026, with a submission deadline of May 22, 2026; winners were scheduled to be announced during the week of June 15, 2026 at the Data + AI Summit in San Francisco. Selection criteria weigh how deeply the startup leverages Databricks, the market potential of their offering, and the strength and experience of the founding team.
The challenge operates on an annual cadence, so prospective applicants who missed the 2026 deadline should monitor the Databricks blog for the 2027 cycle announcement. Companies that are not yet Databricks customers but wish to participate should consider entering the Databricks for Startups or AI Accelerator programs first to establish platform usage. The in-kind credits component ($500,000 pool across finalists) is distributed rather than awarded in full to a single winner, meaning individual credit allocations depend on the number and composition of finalist teams.
Annual competition awarding current Databricks customers up to $600,000 in potential equity investment and $500,000 in platform credits for B2B applications.
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