Anduril eyes $100B valuation, up from $61B two months before
What's the deal? Defense technology startup AndurilDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → is in talks with investors over a new funding round that could value it at about $100 billion, Reuters reported. The company and its investors have not finalised the amount, terms, or timing.
Why now? The talks come just two months after Anduril raised a $5 billion series H round in May at a $61 billion valuation, led by Andreessen Horowitz and Thrive Capital. The Costa Mesa, California-based company, founded in 2017, builds drones, autonomous systems, and military robotics.
The scale: A $100 billion valuation would put the private company ahead of Northrop GrummanDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, valued at $77 billion, and near Lockheed MartinDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → at $134 billion. BoeingDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s market value stands at $165 billion.
One structure under discussion would have investors commit upfront to a second financing within a year at a higher valuation, contingent on Anduril hitting certain financial targets, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Where it's growing: Anduril is expanding in the Seattle area, with offices in downtown Seattle and Bellevue and operations at the historic Foss Maritime shipyard, where it is developing autonomous naval vessels. The expansion has drawn protests, with demonstrators handing out flyers outside its Seattle offices reading: "Anduril Out! No AI for War and Plunder!"
Anduril said it respects "the right to free speech" while defending its work supporting the US military.
What's new: This week the company announced Thunder, an autonomous attack rotorcraft "designed to multiply the combat power and increase the survivability" of crewed attack and assault aircraft. It adds to a portfolio that includes Lattice, an AI-powered command and control platform.
What Anduril says: The company called the reporting speculative. "Any details about terms, structure, pricing, or timing of a future financing round are purely speculative," it said, adding that it does not "comment on rumors."
The signal: A jump from $61 billion to $100 billion in months would mark how fast investor appetite for defense tech is accelerating — and how quickly a nine-year-old startup can close on the market value of legacy contractors decades its senior.
Read more: GeekWire, Calcalist
Image credit: foreignpressctr
