Controversial surveillance startup Anduril gets a $1.9 billion valuation
Government contracts and immigration are a sensitive issue for Silicon Valley.
That’s why Anduril Industries, a three-year-old defense technology company that develops drones and surveillance towers, is taking heat. The company was a target for immigrant-rights activists after selling its products to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency as a “virtual wall” of interlinked sentry towers along the Mexico-U.S. border. Its founder, Palmer Luckey, is known to be a supporter of President Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, the company announced that it has raised some $200 million in Series C funding, valuing the company at around $1.9 billion, nearly double its last funding round in September. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, who was joined by 8VC, Elad Gil, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Human Capital, Lux Capital, and Valor Equity Partners.
And while some consumer tech companies are avoiding the issues altogether, Anduril is finding an opportunity.
“We founded Anduril because we believe there is value in Silicon Valley technology companies partnering with the Department of Defense,” says CEO of Anduril Industries Brian Schimpf.
Lemonade goes public at a discount: The SoftBank-backed home-and-rental insurance company perhaps predictably took a valuation cut ahead of its stock market debut today.
On Wednesday, the company announced that it had raised $319 million in an offering of 11 million shares priced at $29 apiece, with Baillie Gifford, a new investor, indicating interest in acquiring some $100 million in shares in the IPO. The pricing implied a valuation of about $1.6 billion, below its last private market valuation of about $2 billion. The company plans to list on the NYSE as “LMND.”
Of course, how it trades on public markets will be a whole other matter.
Lucinda Shen
Twitter: @shenlucinda
Email: lucinda.shen@fortune.com