Palantir bags $8.1M deal extension with AUSTRAC

Palantir Technologies has extended its contract with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) to supply its big data management and analytics software. 

The US-headquartered data analytics firm has signed another two-year contract with the financial intelligence and anti-money laundering agency valued at $8.1 million. 

Palantir originally signed a $7.5 million contract with Austrac in 2017 to provide its Gotham and Foundry software platforms. 

The contract ended on 31 December 2022 with a final value of $8.6 million. The extension, which includes software provision and support, will carry on from January 2023 until December 2025. 

“We are proud to continue and expand our partnership with AUSTRAC and remain firmly committed to supporting their mission,” said Mike Kelly, head of Palantir Australia. “AUSTRAC personnel are using Palantir’s software to identify national security threats and to detect and disrupt criminal networks - a real contribution to making Australia safer.” 

In a press statement, the company added that its solutions “build resilience in the financial system and use financial intelligence and regulation to disrupt money laundering, terrorism financing, and other serious crime”. 

Palantir was founded in 2003 by Alex Karp, Joe Lonsdale, Nathan Gettings, Peter Thiel and Stephen Cohen. 

Backed by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2020. 

Locally, it works with the likes of WesTrac, a provider of heavy mobile equipment and services to the Australian mining and construction sectors, and EOS Space Systems.