Investing in Dataminr | How to Buy Pre-IPO Shares

Dataminr is an AI-powered information processing and threat detection ecosystem. The platform combines proprietary AI algorithms, advanced data tracking software, and a straightforward business model to deliver real-time data insights where they are required most. Its threat analysis systems are now in use by first responders, over +100 government agencies, and leading enterprises.

Despite Dataminr securing more than half of the Fortune 100 as clients, the company remains privately owned and operated. As a private firm, you can’t access its shares on public markets like the NYSE or NASDAQ. Instead, you need to navigate the secondary markets and qualify to secure access to these high-demand shares. Here’s what you need to know.

What is Dataminr?

Dataminr entered the market in 2009 and is headquartered in New York. Its founders, Ted Bailey, Jeffrey Kinsey, and Sam Hendel, wanted to create an advanced threat analysis system that could help prevent tragedies like 9/11. They envisioned a powerful data analytics protocol that could scour public records, social media, and other available information to identify emerging threats, thereby preventing future tragedies.

Unlocking Public Data

The founders lived through the 9/11 tragedy and were upset to learn of the missed signs that could have averted the loss of lives. They created Dataminr to constantly monitor public data and provide real-time statistics. The raw data gathered by Dataminr is organized and presented in easily understandable interfaces, enabling organizations to gain deep insight into their respective areas of operation.

AI-Driven Analytics

At the core of Dataminr’s success is the company’s integration of powerful AI models. This integration began in 2020 and now includes +50 proprietary LLMs. Additionally, the ecosystem integrates Generative, Agentic, and multi-Model Fusion AI models to increase performance and usability.

Dataminr First Alert

Dataminr’s first alert leverages the company’s real-time alerts to help save lives. This product is used by first responders globally, enabling them to save time, effort, and resources. The system integrates ReGenAI and Context Agents to enhance monitoring and response times across the board.

Source – Dataminr

Today, Dataminr First Alert is a crucial component of many emergency responders’ models. It enables them to maintain awareness of the area and potential threats as they occur. The system is already helping to reduce response times, monitor infrastructure disruptions, and even keep tabs on public health. Notably, Dataminr was among the first to document signs of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Dataminr News

Journalists around the world utilize Dataminr News to gain a competitive edge over the competition. This fast response system monitors billions of sources every day, including social media, text, images, video, and even sound, seeking out disruptions or other newsworthy scenarios.

Notably, the feature can be set up to provide alerts as soon as a developing story emerges, giving news professionals an edge. Today, Dataminr News is used by several leading agencies, and its real-time notifications help thousands of people stay up-to-date on current happenings.

Dataminr Pulse

The Dataminr Pulse service comes in two versions – Corporate Security or Cyber Risk. This service helps businesses stay protected from digital threats, including hacks, phishing scams, and other nefarious behaviors. The cyber risk service monitors your vulnerabilities across the entire ecosystem, including third-party service providers.

Dataminr Pulse continuously secures your network while updating to prevent the latest attack vectors. The system also enables businesses to identify emerging cyber threats and eliminate them before they cause damage. Notably, this feature is set to undergo a major upgrade in the coming weeks, following the acquisition of ThreatConnect.

ThreatConnect Acquisition

This month, Dataminr announced intentions to acquire the intelligence management platform ThreatConnect. The move would cost Dataminr $290M and expand its current services to include internal client data environments. The decision opens the door for Agentic AI-powered Client-Tailored intelligence services, which support personalized and context-aware threat monitoring capabilities.

Historical Funding Rounds

Summary of Dataminr Funding:

Total Funding: Dataminr secured $1.24B across 13 funding rounds.

Largest Round: Dataminr’s largest funding round secured $475M on March 23, 2021.

Investors: A total of 79 institutional investors and 6 Angel investors back Dataminr.

Latest Round: The latest funding round raised  $100M and was a Series F round held on April 24, 2025.

Funding Rounds Breakdown:

• 2 Seed
• 2 Early-Stage
• 7 Late-Stage
• 2 Debt

Key Investors:

Dataminr secured investments from Fortress Investment, NightDragon, HSBC, MSD Capital, ArrowMark Partners, IVP, Valor Equity Partners, Eldridge Industries, Lurra Capital, Reinvent Capital, The Pritzker Organization, DNS Capital, Moore Capital Management, Eden Global Partners, Morgan Stanley, Declaration Partners, IVP, Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs, Vulcan, Moore Strategic Ventures, FJ Labs, Wellington, and more.

Why Invest in Dataminr?

There are many reasons why investors continue to seek out Dataminr shares. For one, the company constantly improves its products and services. The recent integration of new AI systems has made the network more responsive and easier for users to navigate. Today, Dataminr is seen as an essential tool that allows companies to monitor markets, accelerate decision-making, and formulate effective responses based on timely data.

Unmatched Investor Support

Another reason why Dataminr is seen as a smart investment is its strong investor support. The company has 85 investors, and it continues to gain more support yearly. Its latest AI integrations have helped drive demand higher and drawn even more institutional support to the ecosystem.

Partnerships With Leading Firms

Dataminr has several high-level partnerships with many leading organizations and enterprises. For example, the company works with CNN, providing real-time news alerts. Its partnerships span the gamut of enterprise, business, and government, including a 2024 strategic partnership with NATO. This partnership places Dataminr AI systems in the field, detecting threats and saving lives.

Innovation is Part of Dataminr’s Strategy

Innovation is another driving factor for Dataminr investors. The company continually seeks patents for its new AI models and services. These advanced options enable companies to leverage both external public data signals and internal client data via the Client-Tailored AI services. In this way, it continues to push the boundaries of public domain data analytics further.

Recognized as an Industry Leader

Another prime reason to consider investing in Dataminr is its many accolades. This company is always receiving recognition for its products or services. Recently, Fortune named Dataminr one of the Future 50. This maneuver demonstrates the potential the firm has and its strong support.

Funding and Investor data sourced from Tracxn

1. Pre-IPO Secondary Marketplace

Secondary markets are purpose-built exchanges that connect pre-IPO shareholders with potential investors. These marketplaces can offer these assets because they work closely with employees, early-stage investors, and venture capitalists, who are crucial to the company’s pre-IPO growth.

Investing in pre-IPO shares of Dataminr could offer strong returns if the company’s valuation increases following its IPO. It’s common for company valuations to increase following an IPO. As such, it makes sense to add pre-IPO shares to your portfolio before the firm announces plans to go public.

Secondary marketplaces have many requirements. Here are some concerns you should be made aware of:

Eligibility: This approach requires you to be an accredited investor, meaning you will have to show at least $1M in liquid assets to qualify for access.

2. Private Equity Firms

Private equity firms gain access to pre-IPO shares during investment rounds. They then offer these shares to high-net-worth accredited investors with a commission. Notably, private equity firms are known to have extra stipulations, including blocking the sale of shares for years in some cases.

3. Employee Equity Sales

Many consider employee equity sales as the best way to acquire pre-IPO shares in Dataminr. This method of acquiring pre-IPO shares requires you to connect with former employees. It’s common for companies to issue shares as part of an incentive package. Notably, this profit-sharing method has become more popular, leading to more pre-IPO share opportunities for investors.

Private Transactions: There are a lot of hoops you will need to jump through to complete a private pre-IPO transaction, including creating specific legal agreements, conducting valuations, and setting in place any limitations on the transfer of the asset.

Brokerage: Brokers will take a lot of the confusion out of the pre-IPO process. These professionals can guide you through each step, ensuring full compliance and avoiding common errors untrained professionals make.

There are several risks that you should consider before jumping into the pre-IPO shares investment arena. Here are the top concerns:

Liquidity Risk

If you are looking for an asset that you can sell right away, pre-IPO shares are not the best option.

These investments can include sales and transfer clauses that prevent the transfer of the asset until certain criteria, such as the IPO’s completion, are met. It’s even common for pre-IPO shares to require you to wait years before gaining the ability to sell your assets.

Finding a Broker

If you meet the requirements and are comfortable with the risks, several platforms offer access to pre-IPO opportunities:

Forge Global: One of the largest private stock marketplaces, offering shares in late-stage startups like SpaceX, Stripe, and Databricks. Minimums typically start around $100,000.

EquityZen: A popular platform allowing accredited investors to buy into private companies with minimums as low as $5,000. Past offerings include companies like Discord and UiPath.

Rainmaker Securities: A full-service broker that helps source and negotiate private share sales, including opportunities in companies like OpenAI, Stripe, and Palantir.

Hiive: A newer platform with live bid/ask pricing for hundreds of private companies. Transparent and low-fee, with minimums starting around $25,000.

MicroVentures: Offers pooled access to late-stage companies through special purpose vehicles (SPVs), including past investments in SpaceX and Instacart.

EquityBee: Allows investors to fund employee stock option exercises at startups, often at discounted valuations, with minimums around $10,000.

Augment: A digital-first marketplace showing real-time pricing for pre-IPO shares, targeting tech-savvy investors and offering lower transaction fees.

StartEngine Private: Launched in late 2023, this platform offers accredited investors access to Regulation D offerings in later-stage, venture-backed companies. In its first nine months, it generated $16.5 million in revenue, with average investments of around $32,000

Important: Always perform thorough due diligence and consult a financial advisor before investing in private company shares.

Valuation of Dataminr and Future IPO

Dataminr qualified for Unicorn status after securing a valuation of $4.1B on March 24, 2021. The company managed to secure this value through a combination of innovative products, strong partnerships, and growing investor support. For example, it secured $1.24B over 13 funding rounds, demonstrating investors’ confidence in the company’s goals.

Dataminr remains a leading provider of real-time threat detection systems. This service has become more vital than ever as both the business and political sectors have become more contentious. Additionally, the constant push towards digital systems and AI components has increased the demand for Dataminr’s unique options. As such, those holding Dataminr Pre-IPO shares seek to capitalize on the company’s proven track record and growing client list.

Investing in Dataminr Pre-IPO Shares | Conclusion

Holding Dataminr shares opens the door for future opportunities, especially as the company continues along a growth trend. The integration of their AI systems has also helped to drive investors’ interest up, leading to increased revenue. All of these factors could make Dataminr a strong fit for your portfolio.

However, you should always consult a financial professional before making any final decisions. These shares can come with unique restrictions or stipulations that could make them higher risk than traditional shares. As such, you need to do your homework to ensure that you remain within your risk appetite. For those who can qualify, Dataminr Pre-IPO shares offer significant growth potential.

Learn about Other Pre-IPO Opportunities Now

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Pre-IPO shares are typically available only to accredited investors and carry significant risk. Always perform thorough due diligence and consult a financial advisor or legal expert before making investment decisions.