A pedestrian passes a banner displaying Palantir Technologies signage during the company’s initial public offering (IPO) in front of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Sept. 30, 2020.Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Last year at this time, Palantir was gearing up for its long-awaited stock market debut. Now, the data analytics software developer has emerged as a major investor in other tech companies that are themselves getting ready for the public markets.
Palantir’s latest investment was announced on Thursday, when Babylon Health said it’s going public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). A group of investors, including Palantir, committed to invest a combined $230 million into the Babylon transaction.
Palantir has now agreed to at least six SPAC deals in less than three months. A SPAC is a blank-check company that raises money to buy a private entity through a reverse merger and take it public with the help of financing from additional investors. By participating in the PIPE, or private investment in public equity, Palantir is guaranteed ownership of a certain amount of stock once the transaction closes and the shares in the operating company start trading.
While many tech companies like Google, Salesforce and Intel have large venture groups
