There is a new star among Pentagon contractors.
The U.S. military technology company Anduril Industries has raised $5 billion in new funding, bringing its valuation to $61 billion, nearly double compared to last year. The round was led by Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.
Founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey and backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, Anduril has become one of the leading new players in the defense sector, challenging historic giants like Lockheed Martin and RTX.
Defense technology companies have become the focus of funding, with investors rushing to seize the opportunity created by the ongoing war between the United States and Iran.
In a letter sent to investors, published on X, CEO Brian Schimpf stated that when Anduril was founded, defense “was not a sector that attracted significant venture capital investment.” This situation has changed “substantially,” as investors have recognized “the scale of the technological and industrial challenges that the United States and its allies face,” Schimpf said.
Anduril has also earned a role in former President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense project, an initiative to build a space shield capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.
All the details.
WHAT ANDURIL DOES
Founded in 2017, headquartered in Orange County, California, and backed by tech billionaire Peter Thiel (founder of Palantir), Anduril has earned a reputation for rapidly developing innovative defense equipment. The company produces drones, surveillance systems, and AI-based software platforms. This summer, the startup plans to begin initial production of unmanned combat aircraft at Arsenal 1, a weapons manufacturing facility currently under construction in Ohio. The plant is designed to produce hardware at a faster pace than traditional defense production timelines.
MARKET VALUE DOUBLED
As Quartz recalls, Anduril was last valued at $30.5 billion in a June 2025 funding round that included a $1 billion investment from Founders Fund.
RECENT ACCELERATION
The company, known for its drones and surveillance towers used by US Customs and Border Protection, has nearly doubled its number of employees and revenue in the past year, reaching $2.2 billion in 2025, the Financial Times reported yesterday.
Its rapid growth is one of the clearest signs of the changing attitude of venture capital investors toward the defense sector, in a context where geopolitical tensions have fueled increased military spending worldwide, the British financial newspaper argues.
RECENT CONTRACTS AWARDED BY THE PENTAGON
In March, Anduril Industries secured a major contract with the U.S. Army worth a potential $20 billion over ten years to integrate its AI-based command and control software Lattice along with operational hardware. This would be the largest contract awarded to Anduril so far, according to The Next Web.
Already in 2024, the U.S. Air Force had selected Anduril to participate in the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, aimed at developing unmanned aircraft capable of operating alongside piloted planes, surpassing historic competitors like Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
