Anduril Industry made headlines earlier this month when it raised one other $1.5 billion, equaling its own record for the largest defense tech funding round in history and catapulting its total funding to likely recent records.
Huge Round – Co-hosted by Founders Fund AND Sands Capital Ventures — has shown growing investor interest in the space. That hasn’t at all times been the case in the enterprise capital world, for reasons ranging from cultural to political.
However, over the past few years, several well-known firms similar to Andreessen Horowitz AND General Catalyst We’ve placed a significant variety of bets on this industry as the enterprise capital world has grown and some norms have modified.
Who is investing?
Venture capital funding for defense tech startups is poised to set recent records. After Anduril’s massive round, defense tech startups have raised $2.5 billion so far in 2024, based on Crunchbase data — nearly matching 2022’s record of $2.6 billion. Last 12 months, such startups raised just $2.1 billion in total.
The aforementioned Founders Fund and Andreessen Horowitz are helping to achieve recent industry heights.
These firms have made the largest investments of any VC firm this 12 months — three each — and Andreessen has made the most since 2021 with 14 deals. Earlier this 12 months, Andreessen — an investor in Anduril’s previous rounds — led a $175 million Series B for the maker of autonomous surface ships Saronic at a valuation of $1 billion.
Not far behind him is 8VC 1 with a dozen or so investments since 2021 — although only one this 12 months, participating in Saronic’s large round. Graduates’ Projects During this time, he accomplished 11 transactions, including co-leading a seed round value $12 million Picositwhich has developed a platform that enables users to regulate unmanned systems.
The only other company to have invested double-digit amounts in the defense technology sector is probably not familiar to everyone in the enterprise capital world because it is based in Dallas, Texas Quiet ventures has made 10 deals since 2021 in this sector. But that is because the firm specializes in aerospace, defense and national security firms.
Big money
Next on the list are Founders Fund and General Catalyst, which have each closed eight defense tech deals since 2021. Both firms also rank high in leading or co-leading these funding rounds based on the largest dollar amounts.
The Anduril deal clearly puts Founders Fund and Sands Capital at the top of this 12 months’s list, because it was valued at $1.5 billion.
General Catalyst led one other largest round of the 12 months Helsingthat develops artificial intelligence software for defense purposes — value about $489 million, valuing the company at $5.4 billion.
Andreessen is the only firm to steer or co-lead two rounds in the defense sector this 12 months, and the only other firm to steer or co-lead rounds totaling greater than $100 million. In addition to the round for Saronic, it also co-led a $7 million financing for ZeroMarkwhich creates fire control systems with automatic targeting.
Why now?
Big money is something recent in defense technology.
Historically, defense technology, enterprise capital dollars, and the general tech culture haven’t at all times been a harmonious mix. It’s undeniable that Silicon Valley-developed technology has been used by the military for many years, but many investors have avoided that space for moral reasons or because of pressure from LPs.
Additionally, technology firms are wary of using their technology for military purposes. Perhaps the most up-to-date notable example was when, in 2018, Google employees protested against the Pentagon’s contract to supervise drones as a part of Project Maven.
However, over the past decade, enterprise capital has grown massively, with investors looking for more opportunities in more sectors. The lines between what is defense technology and what is more have also blurred, as defense could be defined by tanks and bombs, but now includes artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
The growth in the money supply and the need for much more technology in the defense sector have made enterprise capitalists’ checks more accessible than ever before.
Methodology
Defense technology is defined by the military, national security, and law enforcement industries, based on Crunchbase data. Most announced rounds are represented in the database; nonetheless, there could also be a slight delay for rounds reported late in the quarter. Does not include incubators or accelerators as a consequence of the fluctuations in their investment numbers.