Hadrian, the manufacturing startup building AI-powered factories for defense and aerospace customers, announced on August 6 that it raised $1.37 billion in fresh funding at a valuation of $7.87 billion — more than quadruple where investors valued the company in January, TechCrunch and CNBC reported.
A Long List of Heavyweight Backers
The round was led by WCM Investment Management, Washington Harbour Partners, Valor Equity Partners, 137 Ventures and Baillie Gifford, with participation from 1789 Capital, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, funds managed by Apollo and T. Rowe Price, as well as CapitalG, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Lux Capital and Altimeter. The raise comes about a year after Founders Fund and Lux led Hadrian's $260 million Series C, bringing the company's total funding to roughly $2 billion, according to PitchBook estimates.
Riding the Defense Boom
Hadrian is the latest in a series of high-profile defense funding rounds fueled by President Donald Trump's push to reindustrialize the U.S. military, which is seeking an unprecedented $1.5 trillion in defense spending. The company builds advanced factories for defense and aerospace agencies, using automation to dramatically cut the cost and lead time of precision parts manufacturing.
What the Money Buys
CEO Chris Power said the fresh capital will allow Hadrian to invest in its workforce and expand its Opus software platform, which orchestrates the company's automated manufacturing network. The company plans to use the funds to scale production capacity to meet surging demand from defense prime contractors.
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