Startup News: Anduril develops new drone type for military operations
Defense technology firm Anduril has plans to start producing “Roadrunner,” a jet-powered drone that can be used for a variety of military operations.
“Roadrunner is a modular, twin-jet powered autonomous air vehicle with extraordinary performance at low cost,” said Anduril, in a recent press release announcing the new technology. “Vertical takeoff and landing capability gives Roadrunner the flexibility to rapidly launch from and return to any location, pairing high subsonic speed with exceptional agility and stability.”
The company added that Roadrunner, like other Anduril products, is designed to carry a variety of payloads to accomplish broad sets of missions and can be constantly updated “to meet the threats of tomorrow.”
Founded in 2017, the Costa Mesa, Calif.-based company made headlines in December 2022 when it raised $1.48 billion in a Series E funding round which was led by Valor Equity Partners. It was one of the largest single funding rounds generated by a U.S. startup in the past year. The company’s last known valuation, based on that funding, was $8.48 billion, which was nearly double the company’s valuation as of June 2021.
VAST data raises additional funds, announces new value of $9.1B
In the world of corporate data storage, Databricks has been one of the leading privately held companies in the sector. But VAST Data is working to close the gap.
Last week, New York City-based VAST Data announced that it has raised $118 million in Series E funding led by Fidelity Management & Research Co. The company says that the fresh funding will advance its efforts to deliver a “new category of infrastructure that puts data at the center of how systems think, react, and discover.”
The company, which was founded in 2016, reports that the new fund round effectively values it at $9.1 billion, more than double its worth two years ago.
