Anduril raises $5B as defense giant builds independent naval operations in Seattle – GeekWire
Anduril Industries announced a major $5 billion financing on Wednesday as the fast-growing defense technology startup ramps up investment in manufacturing and private military programs — including a quiet naval boom in Seattle.
As GeekWire reported last month, Anduril has established operations at the historic Foss Maritime Shipyard along the south bank of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, where the company builds autonomous ships and other marine technology.
The Series H funding round – which includes investments from Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz – values Anduril at $61 billion.
The company in Costa Mesa, Calif. said the funding will fuel significant investment in manufacturing capacity, R&D and infrastructure needed to produce advanced defense systems.
“When Anduril was launched in 2017, defense attracted little investment,” CEO Brian Schimpf said in a note, adding that investors are now increasingly recognizing “the scale of the technological and industrial challenges facing the United States and its allies.”
The Seattle center emphasizes how the Pacific Northwest is growing as a strategic hub for next-generation defense technologies — combining advanced manufacturing with AI, automation and defense software.
Just this week, GeekWire reported on Armada’s growing engineering hub in Bellevue, where a heavily funded startup is working on portable data centers for military operations and other use cases. Other Seattle companies like Overland AI — autonomous military vehicles — and Echodyne — advanced radar systems — are benefiting from what CNBC called the “defense tech funding boom.”
Earlier this year, independent shipbuilding startup Saronic Technologies announced a $1.75 billion funding round and plans to build a next-generation shipyard focused on autonomous submarines — raising broader questions about where America’s future shipyards will come from.
Anduril’s expansion also comes amid a renewed national focus on revitalizing America’s industrial and maritime capabilities. In a press release and announcement of the funding, the company said that future conflicts will depend more on robust production systems, rapid adaptation, and autonomous technology.
Anduril has not publicly disclosed the scale of its offshore operations in Seattle, and the company did not respond to requests for comment when GeekWire reported on the shipyard last month.
However, the company said in a November 2025 statement that its Seattle facility will serve as a US facility for ship assembly, assembly and testing of Autonomous Surface Vessels as part of the US Navy’s Modular Attack Surface Craft (MASC) program.
Anduril is also rapidly expanding its operations in California. It also built a large facility south of Columbus, Ohio, where it calls Arsenal-1, which the company described as “the future of American defense production.”
Founded in 2017 by Oculus VR creator Palmer Luckey, Anduril Industries has quickly grown into one of the world’s most important private companies, developing autonomous drones, surveillance systems, AI-powered software platforms and military robots.
