Summary:
- Anduril raises $1.5 billion, reaching a $14 billion valuation.
- Valuation surge driven by a 28x revenue multiple.
- Funding to expand Arsenal factory for high-volume defense production.
Defense tech startup Anduril has secured a $1.5 billion funding round, elevating its valuation to $14 billion. Founded by Palmer Luckey, Anduril aims to challenge the dominance of established defense giants like Lockheed Martin and Boeing by adopting a faster, Silicon Valley-inspired approach to production.
The latest funding represents a significant increase from Anduril’s previous $8.5 billion valuation. The company has reportedly doubled its revenue to around $500 million last year, resulting in a 28x valuation multiple, far higher than traditional defense firms.
The round, co-led by Founders Fund and Sands Capital, with new investments from Fidelity and Baillie Gifford, will support the expansion of Anduril’s “Arsenal” manufacturing platform. The Arsenal-1 factory will add over 5 million square feet of production space and aim to produce tens of thousands of autonomous military systems annually. Anduril’s focus is on scaling production to deliver affordable, high-volume defense systems, aiming to reshape the defense manufacturing landscape.
Anduril claims that its factory’s efficiency will increase over time, driven by its Arsenal Operating System, which promises faster and cheaper manufacturing. This system aims to reduce reliance on specialized labor, optimize the use of available components, and enable rapid product iterations.
The company’s success with government contracts and private investors has sparked renewed interest in defense tech, a sector previously seen as nearly uninvestable due to lengthy government contract timelines. It remains uncertain whether Anduril’s success will be indicative of broader trends in the industry or if it will stand as an outlier.
Official press release here.
Main Author: Aria Alamalhodaei
Source: Techcrunch
