In a rare show of public support Peter Thiel, Palantir Technologies Inc.'s co-founder and chairman, pitched the power of the data-mining company during a splashy Tokyo event Monday marking its formal entry into Asia and a deal with Sompo Holdings Inc.

With the $150 million deal, funded 50-50 by Palantir and Sompo, the duo are inaugurating Palantir Technologies Japan Co. The new company will target government and public sector customers, initially emphasizing health and cybersecurity.

Like IBM Corp. and other providers, Palantir's software pulls together a range of data provided by its customers, mining it for patterns and displaying connections in easy-to-read spiderweb-like graphics that might otherwise get overlooked.