Dataminr, a data analytics company that counts NATO and OpenAI among its customers, raised $85 million in a combination of convertible funding and credit.
This is Dataminr's Chump change, closing the $475 million round in 2021, at a $4.1 billion valuation. In November 2023, Dataminr fired 20% of its staff who fought through economic headwinds and competed for “doubling” with AI.
“The new capital will allow Dataminr to accelerate its growth trajectory. [and] CEO Ted Bailey will provide TechCrunch with discounts on IPO prices or subsequent funding to investors.[We’ll] We will also use this new fund to expand [our] Strengthen additional products in international markets in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, as well as new industries. ”
Bailey added that the new tranche, led by security-centric VC Nightdragon and HSBC, is “pre-IPO conversion funding” and has not set an rating. Nightdragon has also created a special purpose vehicle (SVP) for its $100 million conversion financing from VC affiliates and partners.
SVP is an alternative financing structure that allows multiple backers to pool capital and make a single, large investment.
Dataminr monitors events around the web and processes them using AI algorithms.
Founded by Bailey in 2009 with fellow Yale alumni Sam Handel and Jeff Kinsey, Dataminr monitors real-time events around the world. The New York-based company offers tools designed to help you respond to a crisis situation. It provides tools that allow you to crawl through text, images, video, audio and sensor data to generate event briefs.
Dataminr is a clear success in several ways. The company serves more than 800 customers and 1,500 newsrooms, including two-thirds of the Fortune 50. It is approaching $200 million in annual recurring revenues and has a five-year, $282 million contract with the US Department of Defense.
However, Dataminr's history is somewhat cloudy with controversy.
According to a report by The Intercept, Dataminr provides social media surveillance on legal, pro-abortion protests to the US ex. The police department is allegedly used the Dataminr service for surveillance during the Black Lives Matter protest. And Dataminr has been accused of misleading critical facts, like the status of American servicemen in western Iraq.
Dataminr said it is constantly improving its technology and does not provide the ability for customers to identify the location of people or protesters on the map.
“[Our] AI Tech pilots corporate security across security at the world's largest events, including the federal government, Openai, humanitarian missions at the UN, the Super Bowl, the Olympics and more.
Before the new funding round, Dataminr had raised $1.1 billion in debt with Venture Capital, according to CrunchBase.