Which CIA-backed venture capital firm invested in Palantir's first round in 2005? In-Q-Tel invested in Palantir's first funding round in 2005.
In-Q-Tel is a nonprofit investment organization created to help the U.S. intelligence community identify and support commercially developed technology. It was established in 1999, originally as Peleus, and operates independently while maintaining a close relationship with the CIA.
Palantir emerged from work connected to Peter Thiel and the PayPal network, with a goal of applying data integration and analysis to counterterrorism and intelligence problems. In-Q-Tel became an early backer and helped connect the young company with intelligence users. Reports commonly put the early investment at roughly $2 million, although exact deal details were not fully public.
The other options were major venture firms associated with technology investing, but they were not the CIA-linked investor identified in this early Palantir story. In-Q-Tel later listed Palantir among its portfolio companies.