Snowflake signed a definitive agreement on January 8, 2024, to acquire Observe, an observability platform built on Snowflake databases since inception, pending regulatory approval. The deal aims to integrate Observe’s product for unified collection and storage of telemetry data including logs, metrics, and traces from software systems.
Observability platforms enable companies to monitor software systems and data for performance issues and bugs. Snowflake, a cloud data company, plans to incorporate Observe’s capabilities directly into its platform. This integration provides customers a single location to manage telemetry data and detect potential bugs and issues in their data and software environments.
Observe originated in 2017 when Jacob Leverich, Jonathan Trevor, and Ang Li established the company. In 2018, Observe released its initial observability product, which relied on a centralized Snowflake database. The startup underwent incubation at Sutter Hill Ventures during this early phase.
From 2018 to 2024, Observe secured nearly $500 million in venture capital funding. Investors included Snowflake Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures, Madrona, and additional firms. This financial backing supported the company’s development and growth within the observability sector.
Sutter Hill Ventures played a pivotal role in both Snowflake and Observe. Mike Speiser, managing director at Sutter Hill Ventures, acted as Snowflake’s founding CEO from 2012 to 2014. Jeremy Burton, who currently leads Observe as CEO, joined Snowflake’s board of directors in 2015.
The acquisition facilitates proactive monitoring of data stacks. Users gain the ability to identify and resolve issues up to 10 times faster than previous methods, as stated in a Snowflake blog post. This enhancement addresses scaling difficulties arising from the extensive volume of data produced by AI agents.
Observe’s integration establishes a unified telemetry framework. The system automatically collects data and operates on Apache Iceberg and OpenTelemetry architectures, streamlining observability processes across Snowflake’s ecosystem.
