Hadrian Raises $1.37 Billion at Nearly $8 Billion Valuation to Scale Defence Manufacturing

Defence manufacturing startup Hadrian has raised $1.37 billion in fresh funding at a $7.87 billion valuation, giving the company significant new capital to expand its automated factories and production capacity.

The round was led by WCM Investment Management, Washington Harbour Partners, Valour Equity Partners, 137 Ventures and Baillie Gifford. Other participating investors included 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 new financing brings Hadrian’s total capital raised to roughly $2 billion, according to PitchBook estimates. Founders Fund and Lux Capital previously led the company’s $260 million Series C round about a year ago.

Automating defense manufacturing

Hadrian stands apart from many defence technology startups because it is not focused on developing new AI-powered weapons. Instead, the company is building automated manufacturing facilities designed to produce components for the military vehicles and systems already used by the U.S. defence industry.

The company is betting that modernising the manufacturing process can help address long-standing production bottlenecks in the defence sector. Its factories use automation and software to produce parts at greater speed and scale.

Hadrian has been expanding its physical footprint as it works to build that manufacturing network. In March, the company opened a facility in Alabama dedicated to mass-producing components for submarines, becoming its fourth manufacturing facility.

The Alabama project was structured as a public-private partnership and was valued at $2.4 billion, according to Hadrian. The facility highlights the company’s broader strategy of combining private investment with government-backed demand to expand domestic defence manufacturing.

With the latest $1.37 billion financing, Hadrian now has substantial funding to continue expanding its facilities and automated production capabilities as demand for U.S. defence manufacturing increases.