Starburst Announces Strategic Investment from Citi

BOSTON, May 19, 2025 /CNW/ -- Starburst, the data platform for apps and AI, today announced a strategic investment from Citi.

Starburst's platform enables organizations to unify access to distributed data, across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments, without the need for data duplication or complex migrations.

• Starburst's vision is to deliver cutting-edge AI and analytics solutions on an open, hybrid data lakehouse foundation.
• The investment strengthens the company's momentum in enabling global enterprises to build secure, scalable, and intelligent data applications.
• By bringing AI "lakeside," Starburst eliminates the traditional friction between data, governance, and AI. Starburst's technology is used by 10 of the top 15 banks.

The investment was made through Citi's Markets Innovation & Investments division. "We're excited to collaborate with Starburst to help shape the future of enterprise data and AI," said Lee Smallwood, Global Head of Markets Innovation and Investments, Citi. "Our strategic investment reflects Citi's commitment to advancing a modern, AI-ready data infrastructure, prioritizing governance, performance, and flexibility to power mission-critical financial services in a global, regulated environment."

"Our mission is to meet the data challenges faced by complex, global institutions," said Justin Borgman, CEO and Co-Founder of Starburst. "We're proud to provide our clients with a secure, high-performance platform that enables access to data wherever it lives. Citi's investment reinforces our mission to remove barriers between data and insight, especially in industries where speed, trust, and governance are non-negotiable."

Starburst continues to expand its reach into high-demand, regulated industries where AI is becoming a cornerstone of transformation.

About Starburst 

Starburst is the data platform built for flexibility, delivering fast, secure access to all your data, wherever it lives. Whether on-premises, across clouds, or in hybrid environments, Starburst provides choice and control to your architecture. Built on an open data stack with Trino and Apache Iceberg, it unifies distributed data without complex or costly migrations, unleashing the full power of the data lakehouse for analytics and AI.

With our Lakeside AI architecture, enterprises gain federated access, governed collaboration, and full data lineage, laying the foundation for scalable, compliant AI innovation. Starburst empowers data-intensive and security-conscious organizations to unlock the full potential of their data while ensuring performance, governance, and control.

Enterprises in 60+ countries, including Comcast, Citigroup, and 4 of the top 5 global banks, trust Starburst to maximize data value. Our strategic partnerships with AWS, Dell Technologies, and top cloud providers ensures seamless interoperability across environments.

From insights to action to AI, Starburst fuels innovation at every level. Learn more at starburst.ai.

SOURCE Starburst

Beth Winkowski, Public Relations for Starburst, [email protected], 978-649-7189; Hailee Shanahan, Citi, [email protected]