Palantir is preparing to file its S-1 ahead of a potential September IPO

* The secretive data analytics firm Palantir is preparing to file an S-1 ahead of a potential September IPO, Business Insider has learned. * The company is working with banks to prepare a tender offer to clean up its cap table, according to Bloomberg. * Earlier this week, Palantir lowered the strike price for employees to buy their options in the company, sources told Business Insider. * Palantir declined to comment. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Secretive data analytics firm Palantir is preparing to file an S-1 with plans to go public in September, according to a person familiar with the company, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter. The timing could shift pending market conditions. The IPO prep, first reported by Bloomberg, has been long anticipated at the 17-year-old company whose earliest backers include Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the US intelligence and defense communities. A spokeswoman for Palantir declined to comment. It's unclear which banks are working on the S-1. The company is still debating whether to have a normal public offering or to go public through a direct listing, according to Reuters. Palantir is also working with bankers on a tender offer for private shareholders which would clean up its cap table, according to Bloomberg. Palantir's turn to the public market comes five years after its last funding round, which valued the company at $20 billion. The company, which sells customized data analytics tools to corporations and the government, has struggled to live up to that valuation in recent years, as shares of the company flooded the secondary markets at a major discount. Earlier this week, Palantir adjusted its strike price for employees down from $6.03 to $4.72 per share to lower the cost for employees to buy the options that are part of their compensation, Business Insider reported. Earlier this year, secondary shares of the company regularly sold at a valuation between $8 billion and $12 billion, two investors told Business Insider in February. Around the same time, the secondary-share marketplace EquityZen offered Palantir shares for just $4.85, for an implied valuation of $8.9 billion, according to an offering viewed by Business Insider. SEE ALSO: Palantir lowers strike price for employees to buy equity in the company as discounted shares flood the secondary markets Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: What makes 'Parasite' so shocking is the twist that happens in a 10-minute sequence
https://bit.ly/2B3cp2e

SpaceX has a 'go' from NASA to return 2 astronauts to Earth on Sunday as Hurricane Isaias threatens several Florida splashdown locations

* NASA on Saturday gave SpaceX a "go" to undock the company's first crewed space mission, called Demo-2, and land it on Sunday evening. * Hurricane Isaias complicated original plans to return two astronauts to Earth aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spaceship in the Atlantic Ocean. * Elon Musk's aerospace company may now try to splash down NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley in the Gulf of Mexico. * Two out of seven total landing sites near Florida must have good weather conditions, and NASA has until about 5 p.m. ET on Saturday to call off the undocking. * Should the weather worsen, NASA and SpaceX can try again a day later or some other date over the next two months. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have a "go" to return to Earth this weekend and wrap up an historic space mission for both NASA and SpaceX. Behnken and Hurley launched to orbit aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon vehic...

Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck London fintech Lanistar used to raise $19 million at a $190 million valuation

* London-based fintech startup Lanistar has raised a £15 million ($19 million) funding round from Milaya Capital. * Founded in 2019, Lanistar is building a personal financial management platform that will launch later in 2020. * "We're expecting a huge amount of growth upon our launch and have already seen strong interest among our sign ups," Gurhan Kiziloz, founder and CEO of Lanistar, told Business Insider. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The coronavirus lockdown in the UK has brought the importance of managing money into sharp relief. A recent study from Money.com shows that 71% of UK households have saved cash during lockdown, and, with uncertainty about jobs and the economy looming, money management is now front of mind for many. Lanistar, a banking platform with a focus on personal finance, is one company offering tools for consumers to better manage their money. It has just raised a £15 million ($19 million) funding round from Mil...

How to send your location on Snapchat to your friends through the app's Snap Map feature

* You can send your location on Snapchat to a single friend or to several users in a group. * To send a location on Snapchat, you'll need to visit your friendship history with a user and locate the "Send My Location" feature. * Once you send a location on Snapchat to a friend, they can tap it and zoom in to see where you are. * Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories. Whether you want to share the location of your favorite restaurant or the address of your new apartment, you can easily send your location on Snapchat to your friends. You can do this using the Snap Map and will even be prompted to select who you want to share you location with the first time you use the app feature. You can choose to share your location with your mutual friends, a list of friends with exceptions, or a small group of selected friends. To send your location directly to a mutual Snapchat friend, you must visit your chat history through your friends li...

Real IT Center