TL;DR
Snowflake signed a definitive agreement on Jan. 8 to buy observability vendor Observe, a company built on Snowflake’s databases from its start. The deal, subject to regulatory approval, aims to bring telemetry (logs, metrics and traces) into Snowflake’s stack to help customers detect and fix issues faster amid rising AI-driven data volumes.
What happened
Snowflake revealed it has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Observe, an observability platform that was engineered on Snowflake’s database technology from its early days. The deal, announced Jan. 8, remains subject to regulatory approval and the financial terms were not disclosed by Snowflake. Observe, founded in 2017 and first shipping an observability product in 2018, has been funded with nearly $500 million in venture capital from backers that include Snowflake Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures and Madrona. Snowflake said it will fold Observe’s capabilities into its own offerings to give customers a single place to collect and store telemetry data — logs, metrics and traces — and to surface and remediate software and data issues more quickly. The integration is described as being built on Apache Iceberg and OpenTelemetry architectures and, per Snowflake, could speed issue detection and fixes by an order of magnitude. Reports have suggested a roughly $1 billion valuation, though Snowflake did not confirm the price.
Why it matters
- Combines observability telemetry with Snowflake’s data platform, simplifying how customers store and query logs, metrics and traces.
- A unified telemetry framework is positioned to help teams detect and address software and data problems faster as data volumes grow.
- The move reflects continued consolidation in the data sector as vendors expand offerings to support AI-driven workloads.
- If confirmed at reported levels, the purchase would be Snowflake’s largest acquisition, expanding its footprint beyond core data services.
Key facts
- Snowflake signed a definitive agreement to acquire Observe on January 8; the transaction is subject to regulatory approval.
- Terms of the deal were not disclosed by Snowflake; media reports have put the value at around $1 billion.
- Observe was founded in 2017 by Jacob Leverich, Jonathan Trevor and Ang Li and launched its first product in 2018 on a centralized Snowflake database.
- Observe has raised nearly $500 million in venture funding from investors including Snowflake Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures and Madrona.
- Observe’s CEO Jeremy Burton has served on Snowflake’s board of directors since 2015.
- Both Snowflake and Observe were incubated at Sutter Hill Ventures; Mike Speiser of Sutter Hill was Snowflake’s founding CEO from 2012–2014.
- Snowflake said the combined product will provide a unified place to collect and store telemetry data and is built on Apache Iceberg and OpenTelemetry architectures.
- Snowflake claimed in a blog post that integrating Observe could enable customers to spot and fix issues up to 10x faster.
- Observe’s most recent valuation was $848 million as of July 2025, according to PitchBook data.
- If the reported ~$1 billion figure is accurate, the acquisition would exceed Snowflake’s prior largest purchase, an $800 million acquisition of Streamlit in March 2022.
What to watch next
- Regulatory approval timeline and any conditions imposed on the transaction — not confirmed in the source.
- Final disclosed purchase price and whether Snowflake confirms reported valuation figures — not confirmed in the source.
- Product integration schedule and how Observe’s features will be merged into Snowflake’s UI and services — not confirmed in the source.
Quick glossary
- Observability platform: Software that collects and analyzes telemetry such as logs, metrics and traces to monitor system performance and diagnose issues.
- Telemetry: Operational data emitted by systems and applications, commonly including logs, metrics and distributed traces used for monitoring and debugging.
- Apache Iceberg: An open table format for large analytic datasets that enables reliable, high-performance querying and data management.
- OpenTelemetry: An open-source set of APIs, SDKs and tools that standardize the collection of telemetry data (traces, metrics and logs).
Reader FAQ
Has the acquisition closed?
Snowflake signed a definitive agreement on Jan. 8 but the transaction remains subject to regulatory approval.
How much is Snowflake paying for Observe?
Snowflake did not disclose terms; media reports suggest a roughly $1 billion figure, while PitchBook listed Observe’s valuation at $848 million as of July 2025.
Who founded Observe?
Observe was founded in 2017 by Jacob Leverich, Jonathan Trevor and Ang Li.
Will Observe continue to operate independently?
Not confirmed in the source.
When will See’s technology be available inside Snowflake?
Not confirmed in the source.
Snowflake plans to acquire Observe, an observability platform that has been built on Snowflake’s databases from day one. (Observability platforms help companies monitor their software systems and data for performance…
Sources
- Snowflake announces its intent to buy observability platform Observe
- Snowflake Announces Intent to Acquire Observe to Deliver …
- Snowflake Purchases Observe in Observability Expansion
- Snowflake to acquire Observe for AI-powered …
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