Palantir signs $20 mln deal with S.Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co

20/09/2022 21:00

By Joyce Lee
    SEOUL, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Palantir Technologies Inc
 PLTR.N  announced on Wednesday it signed a deal valued at $20
million over five years to expand its partnership with South
Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Group  267250.KS , one of the
world's largest shipbuilding conglomerates. 
    The conglomerate's shipbuilding affiliates including Hyundai
Heavy  329180.KS  will use Palantir's operating system, known as
Foundry, to strengthen data-driven decision making, Palantir's
Chief Operating Officer Shyam Sankar told Reuters. 
    Companies in the export-driven economy, faced with supply
chain snarls and volatility for raw material prices, are
increasingly seeking to make interconnected decisions with their
data that help get immediate results in weeks, Sankar said. 
    "The operators... understand this in their stomach," he
added. "These are companies that have global operations." 
    The deal is in addition to existing agreements with the
conglomerate's refinery affiliate Hyundai Oilbank and
construction machinery maker Hyundai Doosan Infracore
 042670.KS , valued at over $25 million combined - expanding
Palantir's footprint in the country. 
    "The approach is... start with the decision they make... and
make you better at each decision by improving the amount and
surface area of data," instead of first looking to data then
trying to make decisions - a novel approach for many customers,
Sankar said. 
    Palantir is also actively working to extend partnerships
with South Korea's government as well as private sectors, and
has formally opened an office in Seoul. 
    In five years, Sankar estimated the United States will
likely still take up about 60% of Palantir's sales, but Asia's
portion in the remaining 40% will grow to be a large part as the
firm seeks to expand in the region. The firm is currently
focused on building its business in Japan, South Korea and
Singapore. 
    The firm co-founded by billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel
in 2003 to aid in U.S. counter-terrorism operations now derives
almost half its sales from the private sector.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2ZK26J

 (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by David Gregorio)
 ((joyce.lee@tr.com;))