Anduril, a defense tech business situated in Costa Mesa, California, has secured a Series E round for roughly $1.5 billion, valuing the company at $8.5 billion. This roughly doubles the previous valuation in June 2021.
Valor Equity Partners led the round, with Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, 8VC, Lux Capital, Thrive Capital, DFJ Growth, Elad Gil, Lachy Groom, Human Capital, Marlinspike, WCM Investment Management, MVP Ventures, Lightspeed Venture, and US Innovative Technology Fund also participating.
Anduril intends to leverage the fresh cash infusion to speed R&D and bring new products to market.
The investment round was believed to take place late this spring.
Big Funding Round
The investment is one of the largest raised by a US company this year. Epic Games, which is funded by Tencent, raised $2 billion in April from Sony and Kirkbi. Then, in June, Elon Musk’s SpaceX raised roughly $1.7 billion in funding.
Palmer Luckey, best known for selling virtual reality startup Oculus to Meta — then known as Facebook — for $2 billion in 2017, established Anduril.
Anduril develops artificial intelligence and machine learning-enhanced software and technology for the military and defense industries. It collaborates with the United States and its partners to develop drones, underwater vehicles, and various operational and control systems.
The company has obviously grown significantly. The business just signed a 10-year, $967 million contract with the US Special Operations Command. In the last year, the company’s staff base has increased from 700 at the start of 2022 to more than 1,100.
All of this is not to imply that the corporation hasn’t had its detractors. It has been questioned for potentially facilitating border security policies and government spying.
According to Crunchbase data, the company has now raised more than $2 billion.
