Palantir: A Unicorn on Steroids
June 24, 2015
Whoa. I read “Palantir Valued At $20 Billion In New Funding Round.” Palantir is not exactly pumping out the marketing collateral. The company is making sales to those who want to squeeze “nuggets” from the hydraulic flow of digital information. What’s remarkable is that the company is selling into a sector which wants to buy, yet Palantir continues to collect money from funding sources.
Is the company in the business of processing data or in the business of making presentations to venture types with open checkbooks?
According to the write up:
Palantir is raising up to $500 million in new capital at a valuation of $20 billion, people briefed on the matter told BuzzFeed News, insisting on anonymity to discuss the confidential deal. The 11-year-old company previously raised money late last year at a $15 billion valuation. The new round of funding, which has not been previously disclosed, reflects investors’ eagerness to gain access to a startup seen as one of the most successful in the world. Little is known about the details of Palantir’s business, beyond reports about its data-processing software being used to fight terror and catch financial criminals.
A couple of observations:
First, the amount of money is impressive, even by Sillycon Valley standards. The investment makes outfits like Digital Reasoning look like paupers.
Second, compared to search centric outfits like Attivio, Coveo, and others working to deliver traditional Fast Search type services, Palantir is in a different league. Attivio and Coveo combined has attracted less than $70 million or so. This amount probably is equivalent to the fees assessed on Palantir’s inflows of cash.
Third, Palantir is a bit like Google with a twist of paranoia. There are unreturned phone calls and unanswered emails. There are legal dust ups sealed away, presumably forever. There are secrets, lots of secrets.
In short, Palantir makes other content processing outfits green with envy. Green. The color of money. With a unicorn on steroids the question becomes, “Will the joints hold up?”
Stephen E Arnold, June 24, 2015
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Palantir: A Unicorn on Steroids : Stephen E. Arnold @ Beyond Search