Final week, I printed a deep exploration into Palantir and its founder factory and the way the corporate’s energy and success will be defined by its skill to draw elite expertise and the way it empowers them to develop their abilities and study new ones within the tasks they pursue. That expertise then goes on to discovered their very own startups, invariably searching for to handle laborious, intractable issues a lot as they did of their work at Palantir.
(Within the few days since I printed my first story, I’ve discovered one other 21 former Palantir workers turned founders, bringing what was already the most important public dataset of those folks to 335. For those who haven’t already, test it out here.)
There are a selection of high-profile corporations based by Palantir alums that many individuals have heard of. These embody:
- Anduril, the protection contractor ($30.5 billion valuation), cofounded by Brian Schimpf, Matt Grimm, and Trae Stephens;
- Kalshi, the predictions market ($11 billion valuation), cofounded by Tarek Mansour;
- Eleven Labs, the voice AI platform ($6.6 billion valuation), cofounded by Mati Staniszewski;
- Handshake, {the marketplace} for early-career employees, schools, and employers which has just lately targeted extra on matching specialised expertise with AI coaching alternatives ($3.3 billion valuation), cofounded by Garrett Lord; and
- Partiful, the planning software for IRL experiences ($400 million valuation), cofounded by Shreya Murthy and Pleasure Tao.
However there are such a lot of fascinating tales among the many cadre of startups based and led by Palantir alums. The 9 corporations showcased beneath, which span healthcare, authorities companies, cybersecurity, regulation, clear vitality, {hardware} improvement, and not-for-profits, exemplify the ability of being acculturated to discovering an enormous, laborious downside—and having the talents to sort out it.
Angle Health
Palantir alum founders: Ty Wang (CEO), Anirban Gangopadhyay
Different founders: None
What Angle does: AI-native healthcare advantages platform, notably serving workers of small and medium-size companies
Workers: Roughly 100
Funding: $197 million raised so far, together with a $134 million Collection B in December 2025 led by Portage, with funding additionally from Blumberg Capital, Y Combinator, and others
Secret sauce: Making a full-stack answer. To work towards reaching the corporate’s objective of fixing how “folks strategy and entry healthcare,” as Wang says, and “democratize entry to the sorts of contemporary healthcare companies . . . which are nonetheless not accessible to a variety of the folks that basically want them,” Angle needed to rebuild “the expertise infrastructure that powers the best way that the overwhelming majority of People entry healthcare at this time, which is thru their well being plan.”
Angle has centralized information belongings and targeted on enabling AI-driven, human-in-the-loop workflows throughout its merchandise and operations. That enables it to supply things like digital behavioral well being packages or digital pharmacies, for instance—newer companies which have grow to be extra routine for big employers to incorporate of their well being plans—and that may scale back the general price of look after the 1000’s of small companies that Angle serves.
One key studying from Palantir: Gangopadhyay explains that Angle’s tradition encourages “a variety of sluggish considering and having discourse” on a month-to-month foundation to develop a transparent plan, after which “we’re very deliberately head-in-the-ground and hands-to-keyboards executing.” Though Palantir itself shouldn’t be structured this manner by way of a “month-to-month sync,” he provides that “we’re very mild on conferences. We depart the people to execute in their very own means.” That’s spiritually aligned with how Palantir operates.
Avandar Labs
Palantir alum founders: Pablo Sarmiento (CEO and CTO)
Different founders: None
What Avandar does: Software program for social enterprises and nonprofits to handle their information
Workers: One
Funding: Bootstrapped. Actually, Sarmiento says he is not going to elevate equity-based funding, selecting as an alternative to pursue non-dilutive capital sources, together with revenue-based financing to align higher with the objectives of socially targeted corporations.
Secret sauce: “Give it some thought,” says Sarmiento, “we shouldn’t be constructing the software program we have to combat a disaster throughout the disaster,” referring to COVID in addition to the work he did after he left Palantir, at Zenysis Applied sciences, serving to create software program in order that the Nationwide Well being Institute in Mozambique may efficiently combat a cholera epidemic. “It ought to exist.”
Avandar Labs lets not-for-profits and social enterprises construct a unified information platform to combine and analyze a company’s program information. (It’s at present in beta however when full, Sarmiento says it’ll be “customizable to any mission.”) The platform’s core technological distinction is that it was constructed from the beginning for social sector use circumstances, comparable to “making certain it might probably help epidemic response, humanitarian emergencies, and cross-sector coordination.” He guarantees it’ll be far cheaper than any alternate options, too.
One key studying from Palantir: “Bias in the direction of motion.”
Chapter
Palantir alum founders: Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz
Different founders: Corey Metzman, former Presidential candidate (and present Ohio gubernatorial candidate), Vivek Ramaswamy
What Chapter does: AI to assist American seniors discover the optimum Medicare plan on the lowest price
Workers: Roughly 200
Funding: $186 million raised so far, most just lately at a valuation of roughly $1.5 billion. Traders embody Stripes, XYZ, and Susa Ventures, amongst others.
Secret sauce: Utilizing AI to assist seniors navigate Medicare. Chapter’s advice engine identifies which of the 24,000 Medicare choices that exist is true for a person buyer, considering their docs, prescriptions routine, regular pharmacies, the advantages which are most essential to them, their skill and willingness to pay, and extra. “Every a kind of inputs is a big information downside in and of its personal,” Blumenfeld-Gantz notes. It has an app that may decide from an image of a person’s Medicare card which plan they’re on after which “curate each single merchandise that’s eligible in your plan” and verify them out with no litany of telephone calls, he provides. Talking of calls, Chapter ingests each telephone communication its brokers should assess in the event that they’re making high-quality, compliant suggestions and supply real-time suggestions.
One key studying from Palantir: Being relentless. Working in a regulated area, the place it’s a must to get federal and state licenses and get licensed by insurance coverage carriers in each state you use, “it’s simply not accepting no,” says Blumenfeld-Gantz. “[You have to be] actually annoying to state departments of insurance coverage till they take your name and transfer your paperwork ahead. The best way I give it some thought is that it’s a must to make it much less work for them to do what you need them to do. Establishment, the better factor is for them to do nothing. So it’s a must to change the established order so it’s simpler for them to do one thing than nothing.”
Draftwise
Palantir alum founders: James Ding (CEO), Emre Ozen
Different founders: Ozan Yalti (former senior affiliate on the international regulation agency Clifford Likelihood)
What Draftwise does: AI software program for regulation corporations and in-house authorized groups to automate contract drafting, overview, and negotiation
Workers: Roughly 60
Funding: $28 million raised so far, from Index Ventures, Y Combinator, and others
Secret sauce: “Each different well-funded authorized tech firm within the area is constructing an software layer software making an attempt to place LLMs within bespoke interfaces to attempt to improve productivity for legal professionals,” says Ding. “Draftwise is a knowledge platform. We began by recognizing that the ache level we needed to unravel was one the place the problem is that big-ticket offers require information, and in case you can’t have the information, you may’t make good selections. We began from that basis, integrating information throughout a wide range of silos, bringing it collectively, and shaping it into an ontology. Then we additionally occur to have interfaces to serve that information to folks inside their workflow.”
For instance, Ding cites an add-in for Microsoft Phrase that Draftwise made. “You’re drafting a contract, you’re negotiating monetary covenants, Draftwise can pull collectively right into a single view all the information you’ll want to really make the choice of what covenants to offer.”
One key studying from Palantir: “The factor I needed to carry was immense company, immense accountability, a way of excessive integrity,” says Ding, “but additionally excessive effort the place we’re simply getting issues finished, we’re doing it proper, and we’re doing the very best we will.”
Fourth Age
Palantir alum founders: Zach Romanow, plus founding companions Jesse Rickard, Pete Mills, and Samuel Tarng
Different founders: None
What Fourth Age does: Specialised forward-deployed engineering for Palantir clients to construct advanced functions on prime of Palantir’s platforms
Workers: Greater than 50
Funding: Bootstrapped
Secret sauce: “My first buyer is basically the engineers,” says Romanow, “the very best and brightest FDEs, or the folks that might grow to be the very best and brightest FDEs in the event that they’re in the suitable place and have the suitable groups round them. . . . hire the absolute best people who at scale present differentiated outcomes for patrons, and the shoppers pays you accordingly.”
One key studying from Palantir: “When you’ve got a really, very excessive bar for the folks . . . then A gamers wish to be a part of the A crew,” Romanow says. “Let’s actually keep true to our ideas of what we all know nice seems like.”
Manifest
Palantir alum founders: Daniel Bardenstein (CEO); Marc Frankel (former CEO)
Different founders: N/A
What Manifest does: Software program and AI “invoice of supplies” to guard every thing from healthcare methods to army plane
Workers: Roughly 30
Funding: $21 million raised so far from such traders as AE Industrial Companions (Boeing’s enterprise arm), Palumni VC, XYZ, and others
Secret sauce: Supplies each distributors and consumers with visibility into the provenance of the weather within the software program and AI they rely upon to get rid of the danger of introducing a probably calamitous vulnerability. “Software program is the one factor that we purchase that you simply don’t get to know what’s in it,” says Frankel. “Every part else in our lives comes with an elements listing.”
One key studying from Palantir: “Low ego, excessive ops tempo.”
Nira Energy
Palantir alum founders: Andy Chen (CTO)
Different founders: Chris Ariante (CEO, ex-Exxon Mobil), Andrew Martin
What Nira does: Software program for clear vitality builders, information facilities, and utilities that helps them perceive the place there’s accessible capability on the electrical grid for brand new tasks
Workers: Roughly 30
Funding: $65.5 million from Energize Capital, Y Combinator, and others
Secret sauce: Specializing in “some of the painful roadblocks to constructing” renewables, the hidden ache level impeding the objective to “speed up America’s energy grid to be fossil free as rapidly as doable,” as Chen says. That’s what’s recognized within the vitality enterprise as “interconnection”—including renewable tasks to the grid. Nira’s constructed mapping instruments to assist builders determine websites with capability and one other one to estimate prices whereas a mission is in queue to come back on-line.
One key studying from Palantir: “Studying about transmission planning is a essential half to being profitable at Nira,” Chen says. “For those who’re not , you’re not going to have the ability to study it. One factor that’s comparable culturally between Palantir and the folks we now have right here is that this elementary curiosity and willingness to study completely random stuff that can by no means allow you to in a future job, however you wish to do it since you’re basically interested by it.” Chen provides that he’s now hiring for a ahead deployed engineering function.
Nominal
Palantir alum founders: Jason Hoch
Different founders: Cameron McCord (CEO, former Naval submarine officer, ex-Anduril), Bryce Strauss (ex-Lockheed Martin)
What Nominal does: Software program to assist {hardware} engineering groups, individuals who construct things like nuclear fusion reactors and satellites, take a look at and ship advanced methods sooner
Workers: Roughly 100
Funding: $102.5 million raised so far, from Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, and others
Secret sauce: Pace and fixing the information challenges that {hardware} producers face. When mechanical and electrical engineers work on laborious {hardware} issues, “they [also] have software program issues, they’ve information infrastructure issues,” Hoch says. “We’re rushing up the workflows. We’re growing the utmost complexity of what the {hardware} engineers and our clients can accomplish. Once they end a job or a simulation, they don’t have to crack open Claude Code to begin understanding their information. It’s good there in entrance of them. They’re capable of ask the laborious physics and engineering questions of the information.” That’s the velocity. For that information concern, “whenever you’re constructing advanced software program methods,” Hoch explains, “you have got this unbelievable toolkit of SaaS corporations which have been constructing methods to make your job higher for 30 years.” {Hardware} engineers, in contrast, “You’ll have 10,000 information factors a second, one million information factors a second coming off of a sensor,” which means that the character of serving to them course of that information shouldn’t be a solved downside.
One key studying from Palantir: “Remaining buyer obsessed, remaining technically obsessed. Our clients are wildly technical. The issues that I must educate folks 12 years in the past after I was onsite with a buyer, these folks already realize it. It’s protecting us trustworthy to creating positive we’re actually staying on the innovative.”
Sage
Palantir alum founders: Raj Mehra (CEO), Matt Lynch (CTO)
Different founders: Ellen Johnston (chief product officer)
What Sage does: A {hardware} and software program platform to ship higher eldercare, notably in assisted dwelling services
Workers: Greater than 100
Funding: $59 million raised so far, from IVP, Pals & Household Capital, Maveron, and others
Secret sauce: Constructing {hardware} to gather the essential information to help its software program. “How can we give caregivers higher instruments to look after residents? How can we give residents of those communities instruments to name for assist and get assist after they want it?” asks Mehra. Realizing that present methods weren’t measuring related information, Sage has constructed Core, which tracks nurse calls and helps caregivers handle duties, which operators can then “use to enhance high quality of care and caregiver efficiency,” Lynch notes.
It additionally constructed Detect, which is AI-powered fall detection that permits care suppliers to reply proactively to these type of emergency occasions. “We are able to measure and pull in the entire telemetry from the bodily gadgets that we’re deploying,” Mehra provides. “Primarily based on all of that, you may then synthesize it and supply worth to of us up the worth chain.”
One key studying from Palantir: “Certainly one of us is liable for each single particular person we herald,” says Mehra. Certainly one of Palantir’s founders interviewed each rent for a very long time. “We haven’t departed from that,” he continues, “and I don’t assume we ever ought to as a result of it’s how we hold the tradition intact.” Provides Lynch: “Then, if we make a mistake, we personal it . . . when bets don’t repay, we will’t sacrifice the tradition for that.”
