19 former Palantir employees now heading up startups of their own
Big data analytics titan Palantir, which was founded in 2003 by a group of entrepreneurs including infamous investor, Trump supporter and PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel, has already earned a reputation for spinning out founders in Silicon Valley — but the company has also become a key line on the resume of many of Europe’s tech set.
Palantir makes software for companies and governments to analyse data, and is controversial for helping intelligence agencies like the US’s CIA with surveillance. The company also works with a host of other industries like consumer goods and cryptocurrency. Palantir’s name is a reference to the seeing stones in JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings — crystal orbs that enable the user to surveil and communicate with people in faraway places.