Confluent explores sale amid data’s growing importance in AI era: Report

‘We believe deepening partner engagement across Confluent Platform and Confluent Cloud will fuel our growth and accelerate our global market penetration,’ Confluent CEO and co-founder Jay Kreps says.

Data streaming platform provider Confluent is reportedly working with an investment bank in the early stages of a potential sale, with interest from private equity firms and other technology companies.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based vendor’s stock before news outlet Reuters unveiled the potential sale was down about 26 percent year-to-date, with lost business from a large customer causing the stock to fall in July and making Confluent vulnerable to a takeover.

CRN has reached out to Confluent for comment.

Confluent’s top channel goals for 2025 include increasing the overall percentage of company revenue that comes through the channel and improving partner technical skills, according to CRN’s 2025 Channel Chiefs.

The news comes amid major investment in the channel by Confluent, with the vendor revealing in July a commitment to spend $200 million over the next three years to expand the reach and capabilities of the company’s global partner ecosystem around its data streaming platform.

On the vendor’s latest quarterly earnings call in July, Confluent co-founder and CEO Jay Kreps said the vendor is “doubling down on” its partner ecosystem. More than 20 percent of its business was partner-sourced, according to a call transcript. It counts among its partners CRN Solution Provider 500 members Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Accenture.

“We believe deepening partner engagement across Confluent Platform and Confluent Cloud will fuel our growth and accelerate our global market penetration,” Kreps said. “With our differentiated and complete data streaming platform and strong partner ecosystem, we are well positioned to capture a meaningful share of the $100 billion plus data streaming market.”

The company reported Confluent Platform revenue growth of 12 percent to $120.3 million for the quarter thanks in part to original equipment manufacturing (OEM) partners.

During the quarter, Confluent saw a 20 percent increase in total revenue year over year to $282.3 million, according to the vendor. It saw an operating loss using Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) of $96.4 million. Non-GAAP operating income was $17.8 million.

For the third quarter of its 2025 fiscal year, Confluent predicted between $281 million and $282 million in subscription revenue, up about 17 percent year on year. Its fiscal year outlook is about $1.1 billion, up about 20 percent year on year.

The potential purchase of Confluent reflects an interest in data tools as artificial intelligence grows in use, with data harmony and cleanliness needed steps to get the most out of AI.

Salesforce is working to close an $8 billion acquisition of data management platform provider Informatica as a way to boost its AI and AI agent products.

Confluent’s stock grew 7 percent from close of market Tuesday to Wednesday afternoon, trading at about $22 a share.