US defence tech start-up Anduril raises $1.5bn at $14bn valuation
Defence technology start-up Anduril Industries has raised $1.5bn to accelerate the production of autonomous weapons for the US military and its allies, as investment in the sector surges on the back of conflict in Ukraine. Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm Founders Fund, which provided the seed funding that launched Anduril, co-led the latest round with Virginia-based investor Sands Capital.
This latest investment values the California-based start-up at $14bn, double its valuation in December 2022, the last time the company raised money. Fidelity Management, Baillie Gifford and Franklin Venture Partners, the venture capital arm of Franklin Templeton, also participated in the round. The seven-year-old company will invest the funds into new manufacturing facilities capable of mass producing “tens of thousands of autonomous weapons systems addressing the urgent needs of the United States and our allies”. Anduril will invest “hundreds of millions” of dollars to develop the first factory, named Arsenal-1, which will be in the US — although the company declined to specify where. A second facility could be built overseas.