Anduril aims at $60 billion valuation in new funding round

Anduril, the defense technology company founded by Palmer Luckey, is currently pursuing a new funding round targeting a valuation of $60 billion. This round, led by Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, could raise up to $8 billion, significantly increasing the company’s capital shortly after its Series G round last summer, which raised $2.5 billion at a $30 billion valuation. Other investors expected to participate include Lux Capital and Founders Fund. The funding effort comes amid a challenging environment for defense startups, highlighted by a recent contract dispute between the Pentagon and AI company Anthropic, leading to the cancellation of all government contracts with Anthropic. Defense Secretary Hegseth has also threatened to label Anthropic as a supply chain risk. Palmer Luckey has expressed support for the government’s cautious approach, emphasizing the importance of maintaining control over critical national security technologies within the constitutional framework rather than outsourcing power to private corporations and billionaires.