NextFin News - Costa Mesa-based defense technology firm Anduril Industries is reportedly in talks to raise between $5 billion and $8 billion in a new funding round that could catapult its valuation to at least $60 billion. According to The Information, citing sources close to the matter on February 13, 2026, the potential deal would nearly double the company’s $30.5 billion valuation achieved just eight months ago in June 2025. The capital infusion is intended to provide the firm, co-founded by billionaire Palmer Luckey, with the financial runway necessary to scale its autonomous weapons programs and complete its massive manufacturing infrastructure.
The timing of this capital raise coincides with a pivotal moment for the U.S. defense industrial base. Under the administration of U.S. President Trump, there has been an intensified focus on modernizing military capabilities through private-sector innovation and domestic manufacturing. Anduril is currently directing significant resources toward "Arsenal-1," a 5-million-square-foot manufacturing plant in Ohio designed to apply hyper-scale commercial manufacturing techniques to the production of autonomous systems. According to reports, the company has been burning approximately $800 million to $900 million in cash annually to fund these ambitious infrastructure projects, a figure that underscores the high-stakes nature of competing with established defense giants.
The meteoric rise in valuation—doubling from 2024 to 2025 and potentially doubling again in 2026—is driven by a fundamental shift in how the Department of Defense (DoD) views procurement. For decades, the defense sector was dominated by a handful of "primes" focused on expensive, manned platforms with long development cycles. However, the success of Luckey and CEO Brian Schimpf in securing major contracts for autonomous fighter jets and underwater vehicles has proven that software-first, expendable hardware can meet modern combat requirements more efficiently. Schimpf previously indicated that the company expected to double its revenue for the second consecutive year in 2025, a growth trajectory rarely seen in the capital-intensive defense industry.
From an analytical perspective, a $60 billion valuation places Anduril in a rare tier of "defense unicorns," rivaling the market caps of long-standing public companies like Northrop Grumman or General Dynamics. This premium is not merely based on current revenue but on the company's role as a disruptor in the "software-defined warfare" space. By utilizing its Lattice OS—an AI-powered command and control platform—Anduril integrates disparate sensors and weapon systems into a single autonomous network. This technological moat allows the firm to offer capabilities that traditional hardware-centric manufacturers struggle to replicate, particularly in the realm of counter-drone technology and autonomous surveillance.
The move to raise up to $8 billion also reflects the changing macro-economic environment for venture-backed defense firms. While the "Valley of Death"—the gap between a successful prototype and a large-scale government contract—has historically claimed many startups, Anduril has successfully bridged this divide. The massive scale of the current funding round suggests that investors are betting on the company becoming the primary provider for the Pentagon's "Replicator" initiative, which aims to field thousands of low-cost, autonomous systems to counter near-peer adversaries. The capital will likely be used to accelerate the development of the Fury autonomous fighter and the Dive-LD underwater drone, both of which are critical to the U.S. Navy and Air Force's future force structures.
Looking forward, the success of this funding round will serve as a bellwether for the entire "Defense Tech" investment thesis. If Anduril achieves a $60 billion valuation, it will validate the model of venture-funded, high-risk R&D in national security. However, the pressure to deliver on the "Arsenal-1" facility will be immense. To justify such a valuation, the company must transition from a high-growth tech firm into a reliable industrial powerhouse capable of mass-producing complex munitions and platforms at a scale that matches traditional primes. As U.S. President Trump continues to emphasize "America First" manufacturing and military superiority, Anduril’s trajectory suggests that the future of the U.S. arsenal will be built not just with steel, but with silicon and autonomous code.
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