Anduril Industries, a company specializing in defense technology, has successfully secured $1.5 billion in funding, bringing its total valuation to $14 billion.
Editor Thenews24.net
2 min read
On December 14, 2023, a half-scale model of the Anduril Fury, a versatile Group 5 autonomous air vehicle, was displayed at Anduril’s headquarters in Costa Mesa, California. The defense tech company, Anduril Industries, revealed on Wednesday that it secured $1.5 billion in Series F funding, bringing its valuation to $14 billion. This funding round, co-led by Founders Fund and Sands Capital, with new investors like Fidelity Management & Research Company, Counterpoint Global, and Baillie Gifford, will support the company’s plans to expand its workforce, enhance infrastructure, and improve supply chain operations. Additionally, the funds will be used to develop Arsenal, a manufacturing platform for a new 500,000-square-foot factory named “Arsenal-1,” which aims to produce tens of thousands of autonomous military systems annually.
This new valuation marks a significant increase from the $8.5 billion valuation after the Series E round in 2022. To date, Anduril has raised over $3.7 billion. The company, which ranked No. 2 on the 2024 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, has been challenging traditional defense contractors like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman by developing and selling its own products directly to clients, bypassing the conventional military contract model.
In 2022, Anduril introduced several new drones equipped with its Lattice AI-powered command and control software, which the U.S. military and its allies use to manage human-assisted robotic systems for complex missions. The company’s focus on improving the manufacturing of autonomous weapons systems comes at a crucial time for the defense industry, which has faced challenges due to the war in Ukraine. Anduril highlighted that the conflict has revealed significant weaknesses in the U.S.’s ability to respond to crises, citing slow production rates and rigid processes as major issues, with lead times for replenishing key weapons and munitions averaging two years.
Anduril CEO Brian Schimpf emphasized the importance of producing lower-cost, higher-volume, and smarter systems for future success. In a May interview on “Closing Bell: Overtime,” he stated that these systems would be crucial for nations moving forward.
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