The talks come as Anduril has posted booming military sales and drawn investor enthusiasm around its suite of drones, software and missiles amid the U.S. conflict with Iran. Just two months ago, the company doubled its valuation to $61 billion in a $5 billion funding round led by Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.
The funding round and the valuations remain fluid, the sources said. One idea floated was a two-stage process, in which investors would need to commit to financing a second round at a higher valuation that could occur within a year. The valuation for that second round could involve Anduril meeting certain financial benchmarks. Reuters could not determine how much Anduril planned to raise.
In a statement, an Anduril spokesperson said no decisions had been made about any future financing. As a private company, we regularly evaluate opportunities to fund the growth of the business, the spokesperson said.
The potential valuation would make Anduril nearly as valuable as Lockheed Martin, one of the world’s largest defense conglomerates and maker of several of the Pentagon’s priciest fighter jets, including the F-22, F-15 and F-35. Lockheed is valued at $130 billion.
Led by founder Palmer Luckey, Anduril has been announcing new military weapons and drones at a rapid pace. The company said in January it had reported $2.2 billion in revenue in 2025 and doubled its workforce. Earlier this week, it announced a new vertical-takeoff-and-landing drone called Thunder at the Farnborough Air Show in England, which it hopes will fly alongside military helicopter units.
The discussions also underscore how fast-growing startups are increasingly wielding market power and demanding highly unusual concessions from investors. Before going public in June, SpaceX imposed unusual conditions on investors in its private fundraising rounds, including extensive vetting and limited financial disclosures.
The talks remain ongoing and no deal has been confirmed. The reported valuation of roughly $100 billion would place Anduril alongside Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin in terms of market capitalization, a comparison notable because Anduril is an autonomy-focused, software-driven defense company rather than a traditional aerospace manufacturer. The round under discussion would be a new private financing, not an initial public offering.
What to watch next is whether the funding round closes at the reported valuation, and if a two-stage structure is adopted, whether Anduril meets the financial benchmarks that would trigger the second round within a year.
