By Mike Stone and Pritam Biswas
March 3 (Reuters) – Anduril Industries is seeking to raise about $4 billion from venture capital firms Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
The financing will see the defense startup’s valuation almost double, the source said, asking not to be named since the deliberations were not public. Anduril was valued at $30.5 billion in a funding round in June last year.
Thrive Capital declined to comment when contacted by Reuters, while a16z and Anduril did not immediately respond.
The availability of abundant private capital has enabled companies to raise larger funding rounds and remain private for longer, helping them avoid the current volatility in public markets.
Anduril develops solutions, including a wide range of sensors and drones, and has gained prominence amid increasing calls for low-cost autonomous defense products.
The company, founded in 2017, takes its name from the legendary sword wielded by Aragorn in J.R.R. Tolkein’s “The Lord of the Rings.”
DRONES RESHAPING MODERN WARFARE
The company has become one of Silicon Valley’s hottest defense bets as drones reshape warfare in Ukraine and the Middle East, and U.S. President Donald Trump pushes the Pentagon to adopt cutting-edge technologies to counter China.
Anduril has described its Altius drone, which can be used for surveillance and to carry munitions, as battle-ready and says it has supplied hundreds of the systems to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
The defense startup’s founder Palmer Luckey said in March 2025 that Altius drones have “taken out hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Russian targets.”
The company says the Altius can be deployed from land, air or sea and, depending on the variant, can provide long-range strike capabilities or remain airborne for several hours.
However, the California-based company faced setbacks from drone crashes, according to an Air Force summary. Its Ghost drone system also struggled with Russian electronic warfare in Ukraine.
Anduril had said failures identified by Reuters were “isolated examples.”
(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
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