Anduril, a defense technology startup founded by Palmer Luckey, has signed a terminology sheet to raise capital at a $28 billion valuation, according to those familiar with the issue.
The company plans to raise up to $2.5 billion in the round, people who asked not to name it because details are confidential. The latest funding will double Andrill’s rating from August.
Anduril, the three-time CNBC Disruptor 50 company ranked second in 2024, aims to disrupt traditional defense contractors. Lockheed MartinRaytheon and Northrop Grumman By developing your own products and selling them to clients, by contracting and then building, as opposed to traditional military contract processes.
A spokesman for Andrill declined to comment.
Luckey, who sold Virtual Reality Company Oculus to Facebook for $2 billion in 2014, was a public supporter of Donald Trump long before the president returned to the White House.
Lucky, who founded the company in 2017, told CNBC’s “Closing Bell Overtime” on November 6th, shortly after Trump’s election victory. “The idea that we need to be the most powerful military in the world is not really partisan.”
In December, Anduril announced a partnership with artificial intelligence startup Openai, allowing defense technology companies to deploy advanced AI systems for “national security missions.”
This is part of a more widespread and controversial trend towards AI companies banning military use of products and entering into partnerships with defense companies and the US Department of Defense. In December, humanity and Palantia announced a partnership with Amazon A web service that “provides access to American intelligence and defense agencies” to human AI models.
Anduril is still private, but Palantir, who sells software and services to defense agencies, has been publicly available, and has been one of the best performers on the stock market in the past year, jumping 370% on that stretch. , has increased after the market capitalization. $250 billion. In its latest revenue report this week, the company reported that government revenues had risen to $343 million, up 45% from the previous year.
The Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund is heading the latest Anduril Financing with a $1 billion commitment, sources say that this is the company’s biggest check. Thiel, who was a leading supporter of Trump in the 2016 campaign, is one of the co-founders of Palantir. Founders Fund partner Trae Stephens is the co-founder of Anduril.
People said Andrill’s revenues reached around $1 billion in 2024, with annual contracts reaching $1.5 billion.
In 2023, Anduril launched several new drones that rely on command and control software equipped with lattice AI for use by the US military and allies, directing human-assisted robotic systems to carry out complex missions. did.
Watch: Andrill co-founder Palmer Lucky talks about what the Trump White House means for defense technology
