Palantir Technologies is a big data software company whose roots in government security mask a growing corporate presence. It is also getting a larger war chest to go with that growth.
On Thursday afternoon, Palantir is expected to file notice that it has raised $100 million. The new round put a $9 billion valuation on the company, according to a senior Palantir executive who spoke on the condition that he not be named because he is not authorized to discuss financial matters on the record. In this season of nosebleed valuations for all manner of software investments, that might not seem like a big deal. But just three months ago, Palantir raised $196 million, on a valuation of about $6 billion.
Apparently, that September round created an even greater appetite for equity inside Palantir.
Palantir’s original investors include Peter Thiel, an early investor in big tech companies like Facebook, and In-Q-Tel, a venture fund backed by the Central Intelligence Agency that specializes in the technology for the intelligence community.
The company’s initial customers included several United States defense and intelligence agencies. But today, more than 60 percent of its revenue is from commercial sources, according to the Palantir executive, who spoke on the condition on anonymity.
While most big data companies create databases that gather large and diverse information sources, then apply pattern-matching software to see if something interesting pops up, Palantir’s technology tries to encode a human element. It has worked on augmenting the way humans in a given field parse information by studying specialists in such areas as fraud spotting, or doctors who isolate outbreaks of food poisoning. The software then augments those human pattern-finding skills.
While this has proved effective for finding insurgent bomb makers and missing children, it also seems to work in finance, health care and other industries.
The money will likely be used for corporate expansion. Palantir currently has about 1,200 employees, and offices in the United States, Australia, Singapore and Britain.