Anduril Industries, a defence technology start-up, has raised $1.5bn in a fundraising round led by Founders Fund, the venture capital firm founded by Peter Thiel, and Sands Capital, which values the California-based start-up at $14bn.
Anduril will use the proceeds to accelerate the production of autonomous weapons for the US military and its allies, as investment in the sector surges in response to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Other participants in the round included Fidelity Management, Baillie Gifford and Franklin Venture Partners, the venture capital arm of Franklin Templeton.
The seven-year-old company plans to use the funds to build new manufacturing facilities capable of mass-producing “tens of thousands of autonomous weapons systems” to meet the urgent needs of the United States and its allies. Anduril has earmarked “hundreds of millions” of dollars to develop its first factory, named Arsenal-1, which will be located in the US, though the exact location has not been disclosed. A second facility may be constructed overseas.
Venture investment in defence tech doubled to $33bn between 2019 and 2023, despite a broader downturn in venture funding.
