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Ex-Databricks AI Chief Seeks $1 Billion for Unconventional

10/4/2025

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Summary

Story summary

Naveen Rao, former AI head at Databricks, is raising $1 billion for Unconventional, Inc., valued at $5 billion.
Andreessen Horowitz leads the round with Lightspeed Venture Partners and Lux Capital.
Rao plans a tranched funding approach.
Rao's track includes MosaicML's $1.3 billion acquisition by Databricks (2023) and Nervana Systems' sale to Intel for over $400 million (2016).

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Story summary

Naveen Rao, former AI head at Databricks, is raising $1 billion for Unconventional, Inc., valued at $5 billion.
Andreessen Horowitz leads the round with Lightspeed Venture Partners and Lux Capital.
Rao plans a tranched funding approach.
Rao's track includes MosaicML's $1.3 billion acquisition by Databricks (2023) and Nervana Systems' sale to Intel for over $400 million (2016).