Palantir Technologies, a big data analytics provider, closed $450M in new funding according to an SEC document filed on Thursday. Still looking to raise another $50M, the company is now valued at $20B, according to the WSJ.

Social magazine startup Flipboard confirmed the $50M it was rumored to have raised last week, and announced that JP Morgan was the sole investor in the Series D round. This brings Flipboard's total venture funding to $210.5M, at a valuation that could range from $800M to $1.32B, according to the company's SEC filing.

Sub-Saharan Africa's nascent startup scene is growing up, according to a report by researchers Aubrey Hubry and Jake Bright. Using CrunchBase data, they predict that venture funding for African startups will exceed $1B over the next three years.

Semil Shah of Haystack explains how equity crowdfunding is changing many startup cap tables. After a founder closes a big brand name investor, they're more likely to fill the round with syndicates led by friend than unknown Fund of Funds or family offices.

Nick Grossman of USV presents a solution for startups operating in government-regulated sectors, such as Uber and Airbnb. The government needs to grant companies the freedom to operate, he says, and in return companies need to share real-time, unedited data with regulators.

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