Palantir Technologies – The Skinny

Palantir Technologies - The Skinny
Famous for their counter-terrorism software, Palantir owe a good deal of their success to governmental security agencies around the world

Palantir Technologies is an American Private Software firm that were first registered in 2003, arguably the beginning of the digital era. With an estimated net worth of around $20 billion US this is one Big Data company that is raking it in. Famous for their counter-terrorism software, Palantir owe a good deal of their success to governmental security agencies around the world… but what makes them so successful?

Software Technology

As one of 260 companies around the globe that are known by the umbrella term of ‘unicorn companies’; Palantir Tech passed the billion dollar worth marker in 2011. Since then they have produced software for the United States Intelligence Community, the United States Department of Defense and the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board. They have also worked with the Information Warfare Monitor system, so as you can see Palantir is making waves wherever the step.

Palantir Technologies

Palantir are known for their ‘Metropolis’ system which is used to help financial advisers monitor changes in the market. They also created the Palantir Gotham system, which is the counter-terrorism software. They have clients in the finance and health industries but make the majority of their money from contractual defense plans. One of the co-founders of Palantir was actually Nathan Gettings – the brains behind PayPal. Some of the initial investments came from the US Central Intelligence Agency’s Venture Capital reserve and a Founders fund.

Metropolis’ System

Headquartered in Palo Alto, Palantir got their big break in 2010 when the federal government contracted their technology to be used in Medicare and Medicaid systems. Other clients include the CDC, the Polaris Project, the NSA, the FBI – you get the idea. Palantir work with some top secret information and with matters of national security – and are handsomely rewarded for their diligent duty. Other sources of income to this huge company come from RRE Ventures and United States Big Data. Much of their worth comes from the ongoing revenue they gain through contracts – contracts which they manage to secure by hiring the best minds in the business.

List of Services

Some of the services that Palantir provide are a little hazy in detail, but we assume this is of national or international necessity. What we do know is that they make software that helps prevent fraud, target terrorism and keep us safe. Some of their specified services are as follows:

  • They provide some credit-card software in conjunction with First Data.
  • They provide hedge fund, bank and financial services software.
  • They offer an information warfare monitor.
  • They detect national threats to cyber security.
  • They specialize in data integration, information management and research analytics.
  • They integrate and debug data, as well as breaking it down into manageable portions that can be securely screened.
  • They help the military to decode large quantities of information.
  • They produce state-of-the-art data management tools.
  • They provide interconnected intelligence resources across the globe.
Cyber Security

So as you can see, Palantir are about more than just making money. This is one of those big names in business that nobody wants to ask too many questions about, we merely stand back and applaud the work.