One of the largest defence tech businesses in America , will open a factory and research and development (R&D) site in the UK as global tensions rise.
Anduril, which develops drones, automated weapons systems, surveillance tech and robotics, primarily for the US military, said the new site will act as its European headquarters.
The Californian firm, worth as much as $28bn after securing a whopping $2.5bn Series G round earlier this year, will be courting the Ministry of Defence (MoD) as a prospective major customer as the prime minister pledges to increase government spending on defence to 2.5% of GDP from 2027.
Anduril has already received a £30m contract from MoD to supply Ukraine with military drones.
The company has not chosen where its UK facility would be located but the Oxford-Cambridge corridor – which the British government wants to make into a new Silicon Valley – is being considered.
“Due to ongoing commercial sensitivities it would not be appropriate to comment on this at this time,” an Anduril spokesperson said.
“However, we are very excited to be continuing our growth and commitment to providing sovereign capabilities here in the UK.”
Founded in 2017 by Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey, Anduril – named after the blade of Aragorn from JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings – has raised more than $6bn from investors including BlackRock, Lightspeed Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund as well as grant funding from the US government.
Founders Fund partner Trae Stephens is also a co-founder of Anduril.
The company has also provided defence tech products to the armed forces of Australia and other US allies.
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