Anduril Upcoming IPO: Building up toward a public launch
While a business based largely on government contracts might not seem bullish in this current environment of federal cuts, one company that still seems to be ramping up is Anduril, a defense company that develops technology like autonomous air systems and command-and-control software.
In particular, Anduril announced in January 2025 that it would be building out a large manufacturing facility in Columbus, Ohio, which involves nearly $1 billion in investment from Anduril. The company plans to start manufacturing products there in July 2026.3
Anduril's founder, Palmer Luckey, has acknowledged this is an aggressive timeline, but he said that the company wants to IPO after proving that the company can pull that off.
"I don't really want to IPO when people are saying that we're madmen and trying to do the impossible. I want to do the impossible and then say, 'Look, we did it. All you have to do is bet we can do it again,'" he said in a Bloomberg interview.4
Thus, an IPO might not happen anytime in the immediate future. Luckey also noted that the company does not need to IPO from a capital-raising perspective, and he said he'd like to go public when conditions are favorable and there's more of an understanding of what the company does.
That said, Luckey did acknowledge that he does want Anduril to IPO, noting his view that the American public should be able to invest in American defense companies, rather than staying private and only letting accredited investors join in.
So, reading between the lines, it seems plausible that an Anduril IPO could come in 2026 or 2027 if the Ohio manufacturing facility goes as planned and IPO conditions look relatively strong.
Anduril: Company background
Anduril — formally known as Anduril Industries — was founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus VR. The company's other co-founders include Brian Schrimpf (current CEO), Trae Stephens (current executive chairman), Matt Grimm (current COO), and Joseph Chen.5
The company was founded with the mission to provide the U.S. and its allies with advanced military technology. Instead of focusing on hardware like many other defense companies, Anduril says its mission is rooted in focusing on areas such as software engineering and computing. Anduril's Lattice OS software serves as the core system for its other technologies such as autonomous fighter jets and air defense systems.6
Anduril is headquartered in Orange County, California,7 and it also has factories in Mississippi, Rhode Island, Georgia, Australia, and is now building out a new factory in Ohio.8
Developing the next generation of defense products
Anduril has found success developing advanced technologies like autonomous air systems, underwater vehicles, and surveillance systems powered by Anduril's Lattice software. The company has won big contracts from multiple government agencies such as the Department of Defense9 and the Department of Homeland Security,10 along with agencies outside the U.S. like the Royal Australian Navy.11
From these types of partnerships, Anduril's revenue approximately doubled last year to around $1 billion. The company has done this by focusing more on product development first and securing contracts to buy these products afterward, rather than first winning contracts and basing development off of that.12
That said, this revenue is a tiny fraction of what many other defense contractors have brought in. For example, for fiscal year 2023, Lockheed Martin was awarded $61.4 billion in defense contracts.13 Still, Anduril is much newer than many of the large defense contractors, and it's possible the contract mix will change in the future.
Anduril has also partnered with other innovative companies such as Palantir, another AI-focused company with a large defense focus. Anduril and Palantir launched a new consortium in December 2024 with the goal of bringing in other companies with complementary capabilities to advance national security with AI-driven technologies.14
Over the years, Anduril has also made some significant acquisitions, such as buying autonomous aircraft developer Blue Force Technologies in 2023,15 as well as buying Numerica Corporation's radar and command and control businesses, which was just announced in January 2025.16
Anduril stock price history
Anduril's Forge Price™ is $42.52 as of end of March, which is double what it was a year ago.17 Forge Price is a derived data point that reflects the up-to-date price performance of venture-backed, late-stage companies, and is calculated based on a proprietary model incorporating pricing inputs from primary funding round information, secondary market transactions, and indications of interest (IOIs) on Forge.
This gain by Anduril is nearly in line with the Forge Private Market Index — a broad measurement that reflects the up-to-date performance and pricing activity of venture-backed, late-stage companies that are actively traded in the private market — which is up 41.5% over the past year.18
Going back further, Anduril's current Forge Price is approximately an 80% increase from two years ago, and its stock price has jumped significantly over the years based on funding rounds, starting with a $0.55 stock price from its 2017 Seed round.19
Anduril funding history and private market valuation
Anduril's funding history started in 2017, with a Seed round of $17.62 million that valued the company at $88.12 million.20 One of its original backers is Founders Fund (co-founded by Peter Thiel), which also has invested in companies like Palantir and SpaceX.21
Anduril quickly reached unicorn status with its Series B two years later in 2019, raising $122.72 million at a $1.04 billion valuation, with investors such as Andreessen Horowitz joining in. Anduril's Series C the following year nearly doubled the valuation, and in 2021 it made a dramatic leap up again to $4.6 billion from Anduril's Series D.22
Then in 2022, Anduril raised nearly $1.5 billion for its Series E at an $8.48 billion valuation, and its last primary funding round came in 2024, when it also raised around $1.5 billion at a $14 billion valuation. This latest round also included investment from Fidelity.23 Now, Anduril is reportedly in talks for a funding round led by Founders Fund that would once again double its valuation, reaching $28 billion.24
Looking ahead
While Anduril has not announced any definitive plans, founder Luckey has expressed strong interest in going public at some point in the future.
Check back here or take a look at Forge’s upcoming IPO calendar to stay in the loop about a possible Anduril IPO and other pending public offerings.
If you’re interested in investing in private companies like Anduril before they go public, read more about pre-IPO investing or register on Forge Markets today to get started.
FAQs about the Anduril upcoming IPO
What is Anduril?
Anduril is a defense products company that specializes in software and AI-focused systems for the U.S. military, its allies, and agencies like U.S. Customs and Border Protection.25
Is Anduril going public?
Anduril has not announced any definitive plans about going public, but its founder, Palmer Luckey, has said that he wants to IPO at some point to give retail investors access to the company.
Who are Anduril's key investors?
Some of Anduril's top investors include Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Sands Capita, and Valor Equity Partners, among many others.
Can anyone invest in Anduril?
Currently, Anduril is a private company. As such, investment is generally limited to accredited investors who are either invited to participate in primary funding rounds or those who can access pre-IPO shares of Anduril on a secondary marketplace such as Forge, subject to availability. However, the company's founder has expressed interest in going public so that anyone can invest in the company.
$28B
