Defense technology startup Anduril Industries has raised $1.5 billion in a round co-led by Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm Founders Fund and Sands Capital, valuing the company at $14 billion. Anduril joins a small, elite group of highly valued defense companies like Lockheed Martin (LMT). According to a company press release, the company’s goal is to “manufacture and produce tens of thousands of autonomous weapons systems to meet the urgent needs of the United States and its allies.”
Venrock Partner Nick Beim joins Asking For A Trend to provide insight into Andruil’s recent recapitalization and the defense sector as a whole.
“I think the global defense industry as a whole is booming,” Beim began. “We have wars going on in Europe and the Middle East. China is taking a very aggressive military posture against Taiwan and is trying to leapfrog the U.S. military with its technology investments. So the defense industry as a whole is booming.”
“Second, and perhaps most interesting, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the nature of warfare is changing dramatically because of emerging technologies, so I think the future of warfare will be driven more by AI software and cutting-edge autonomous systems than by the traditional military platforms we use today,” he continued, adding that he believes venture-backed companies are “best positioned right now to deliver these critical systems.”
Watch the video above to hear what Baim thinks about the possibility of venture-backed defense startups going public.
For more expert insights and the latest market trends, click here to watch the full episode of “Ask the Trends.”
This post was written by Nicholas Giacobino