Primer
San Francisco NLP/AI company (Primer AI) building secure text-analysis platforms for intelligence, defense, and federal agencies to process large volumes of unstructured data.
Founded in 2015 by physicist Sean Gourley (previously co-founder/CTO of Quid), Primer builds AI platforms — Primer Enterprise, Primer Command, and a developer API — that turn large volumes of unstructured text and open-source data into structured, traceable intelligence. Its stated customer base is the Intelligence Community, Defense, and civilian federal agencies, with named use cases including counter-UAS threat intelligence, information-environment/narrative monitoring, and accelerated intelligence analysis; the platform is built for deployment in secure enclaves, tactical edge systems, and air-gapped networks, with NIST, SOC2, DFARS, and ISO 27001 compliance. Its Federal Advisory Board includes former senior DIA, ODNI, SOCOM, CIA, and CYBERCOM officials. Sean Moriarty (ex-CEO of Ticketmaster and Leaf Group) succeeded Gourley as CEO. Primer raised a $110M Series C in June 2021, led by Lee Fixel's Addition, with new investors including Crumpton Ventures (founded by former CIA officer and counterterrorism coordinator Henry A. Crumpton), J2 Ventures, Steadfast, and Sands Capital, alongside existing investors Lux Capital, DCVC, Amplify Partners, Section 32, Bloomberg Beta, and Avalon Ventures.
Overview
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, CA, USA
- Founded
- 2015
- Employees
- Total funding
- $237M (6 rounds, incl. $110M Series C, June 2021)
- Stage
- Series C
- Status
- active
- Domains
- primer.ai
- Website
- www.primer.ai
Cap table0
Approximate ownership by holder. Indexed holders link to their records.
Raised per round
Percentages marked ~ are not disclosed. Some are a generic VC-pattern model (founders/team weighted heaviest, option pool lightest, other holders evenly) sized to whatever's left undisclosed — a standard industry shape, not this company's actual cap table.
| Holder | Instrument | Ownership |
|---|---|---|
U.S. Innovative Technology FundNew | Preferred (Series D) | ~50.0% |
AdditionReinvested | Preferred (Series D) | ~50.0% |
Contracts2
- ContractU.S. Air Force JADC2 IDIQMultiple-award IDIQ contract with a $950M ceiling shared across a 27+ company pool (including Primer) for maturation, demonstration, and proliferation of Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) capability.
- ContractSocial Media Event MonitoringU.S. Special Operations Command contract for social media event monitoring using Primer's AI platform.
Programs0
No linked records yet.
Frequently asked
- What does Primer do?
- Founded in 2015 by physicist Sean Gourley (previously co-founder/CTO of Quid), Primer builds AI platforms — Primer Enterprise, Primer Command, and a developer API — that turn large volumes of unstructured text and open-source data into structured, traceable intelligence. Its stated customer base is the Intelligence Community, Defense, and civilian federal agencies, with named use cases including counter-UAS threat intelligence, information-environment/narrative monitoring, and accelerated intelligence analysis; the platform is built for deployment in secure enclaves, tactical edge systems, and air-gapped networks, with NIST, SOC2, DFARS, and ISO 27001 compliance. Its Federal Advisory Board includes former senior DIA, ODNI, SOCOM, CIA, and CYBERCOM officials. Sean Moriarty (ex-CEO of Ticketmaster and Leaf Group) succeeded Gourley as CEO. Primer raised a $110M Series C in June 2021, led by Lee Fixel's Addition, with new investors including Crumpton Ventures (founded by former CIA officer and counterterrorism coordinator Henry A. Crumpton), J2 Ventures, Steadfast, and Sands Capital, alongside existing investors Lux Capital, DCVC, Amplify Partners, Section 32, Bloomberg Beta, and Avalon Ventures.
- Where is Primer headquartered?
- Primer is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, USA and was founded in 2015.
- How much funding has Primer raised?
- Primer has raised $237M (6 rounds, incl. $110M Series C, June 2021) in disclosed funding.
- What does Primer specialize in?
- Primer works across primer.ai.
- Does Primer hold government contracts?
- Defense Tech Atlas links Primer to 2 government contracts.
Sources & citations7
7 sources behind every claim
Every data point on this record is backed by a cited public source. Request Pro access to see them and verify each claim yourself.