The Founders Fund met with Andrill, a back defense company, at a $28 billion valuation.

Krystal Hu, Anna Tong, Kenrick Cai

(Reuters) – AI-powered defense startup Anduril Industries said Friday it is in discussions with a new funding round that could raise the valuation of the company founded by Palmer Luckey to $28 billion.

The founder fund of technology billionaire Peter Thiel is set to lead the round, according to sources showing strong appetite from investors at the fast-growing defense technology company. The round comes just months after the final salary increase of $1.5 billion at the $14 billion valuation in August.

Founders Fund has been Anduril’s backer since its launch in 2017 and one of Anduril’s co-founders, Trae Stephens, is a partner in the company.

The Founders Fund declined to comment on funds originally reported by CNBC.

Headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, Andrill develops autonomous weapons across a variety of sensors, including drones. The company announced last month that it plans to build a large arms factory in central Ohio.

In 2023, the startup launched a lattice for Mission Autonomy, AI-enabled software that collaborates with teams of autonomous systems during their human-supervised missions.

Before Andrill, Lucky is recognized as having founded Virtual Reality Company Vr, which was acquired by Facebook for $2.3 billion in 2014.

US Vice President JD Vance invested in Andrill during his previous career as a VC investor, but according to his application he still holds the company’s interests.

Thiel, who co-founded military technology company Palantia, has been a longtime Republican donor, including President Donald Trump’s first success in 2016 and supporting Vance’s run in the Senate in 2022. .

(Reporting by Nathan Gomez of Bengaluru, Mike Stone of Washington, New York, and Crystal Who, Editor