🧬 Defense Tech's Biggest Private Raise

Anduril Industries closed a $2.8 billion Series F funding round on May 15, 2026, at a $14 billion post-money valuation, making it the highest-valued defense technology startup in U.S. history and the largest private funding round of 2026 to date. The round was co-led by Founders Fund, General Catalyst, and Valor Equity Partners, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Elad Gil, and human rights advocate (and Anduril board member) Peter Thiel.

The company has now raised $5.4 billion in total since its founding in 2017 by Palmer Luckey, Trae Stephens, and others.

Anduril's revenue run-rate has crossed $1.5 billion annually, driven primarily by its Lattice AI-powered command and control software platform and the Roadrunner family of autonomous air vehicles. The Roadrunner-M, a jet-powered drone interceptor designed to counter the proliferating threat of Iranian Shahed-class one-way attack drones, has seen accelerated procurement from the U.S. Navy and several allied nations following demonstrated effectiveness in Red Sea and Eastern European deployments.

📋 Pentagon Contract Momentum

The company's Department of Defense contract backlog now stands at $4.2 billion, up from $1.8 billion at the time of its Series E in July 2024. The largest component is a $1.2 billion award under the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, where Anduril's Fury autonomous drone serves as a loyal wingman to crewed fighters like the F-35 and the upcoming NGAD platform. Anduril beat out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman for the CCA Increment 1 contract, a victory that signaled to the venture capital industry that defense primes are vulnerable to software-centric competitors.

Anduril has also secured a $650 million contract for AI-powered border surveillance systems deployed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and a $380 million contract with the Australian Defence Force for undersea surveillance networks using its Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicles.

📋 IPO on the Horizon

CEO Brian Schimpf confirmed that Anduril is targeting a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange in the first half of 2027, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley serving as financial advisors. The direct listing approach—pioneered by Spotify and Slack—would avoid the dilution of a traditional IPO while providing liquidity to employees and early investors. Analysts at PitchBook project a public-market valuation between $20 billion and $28 billion given comparable defense contractor revenue multiples of 3.5-4.5x and Anduril's 60% year-over-year growth rate.