U.S. data company Palantir raises $679.8 million

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Palantir Technologies, the data firm best known for helping the U.S. government track down al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has raised $679.8 million, according to a filing on Wednesday.

The cash injection, which further expands the $500 million the company originally said it was raising in July, shows that despite shifting market conditions for privately held companies investors still hold confidence in the strongest of them, particularly those geared toward enterprises.

Many richly valued consumer companies have lost some luster in recent months, with the valuations of businesses such as message service Snapchat and storage service Dropbox marked down by some investors.

Morgan Stanley & Co and SF Sentry Securities acted as placement agents, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, earning sales commissions that totaled $3.2 million.

In October, Palantir said it had expanded its original $500 million offering to $554.8 million. The total is now one-third larger than announced in July.

Palantir is currently valued at $20 billion, making it the richest venture-backed company in the United States after ride service Uber and accommodation service Airbnb. It works closely with the U.S. government, whose steady business provides part of the reason investors like the Palo Alto, California-based company.

(Reporting by Sarah McBride; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)