Hadrian, a startup that builds highly automated factories to manufacture precision parts for the defense and aerospace industries, has raised $1.37 billion in Series D funding at a valuation of $7.87 billion, the company announced this week.
The round was co-led by WCM Investment Management, Washington Harbour Partners, Valor Equity Partners, 137 Ventures and Baillie Gifford, with JPMorgan Chase's Strategic Investment Group joining as an anchor investor through its Security and Resiliency Initiative, according to Hadrian's announcement. Other participants included Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, Lux Capital, Altimeter, Apollo, T. Rowe Price Associates, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and 1789 Capital. The valuation is more than four times what Hadrian was worth after a funding round in January, reflecting how quickly investor interest in U.S. defense-manufacturing startups has accelerated this year.
Betting on reshored production
Hadrian operates factories that combine robotics, automation software and skilled machinists to produce precision metal parts for missiles, satellites, aircraft and other mission-critical hardware, work traditionally done by small, slow-to-scale machine shops. The company runs proprietary software it calls Opus to coordinate machines and workers across its sites, and markets its factories as a service to defense primes and aerospace manufacturers that need parts built faster than conventional suppliers can deliver them.
The company will use the new capital to open additional factories, expand research and development, and add production lines for munitions and autonomous systems, along with hiring, per the announcement. Hadrian currently operates close to 3 million square feet of manufacturing space across four sites: two in Torrance, plus newly opened facilities in Mesa, Arizona, and Muscle Shoals, Alabama, with more locations in development.
"Production is now the frontline of deterrence. America's ability to lead will depend on whether we can build, train, and scale faster."
— Chris Power, founder and chief executive of Hadrian
The company has also picked up direct government business this year: the Pentagon awarded Hadrian an $80 million Army contract tied to the Red River Army Depot and a $900 million Navy commitment for submarine component production, according to The Robot Report.
Part of a broader wave
Hadrian's raise is one of the largest yet in a broader surge of investment into companies pitching automation and robotics as the answer to a shortage of skilled manufacturing labor and a strategic push to reduce dependence on overseas suppliers for defense-critical components. Backers spanning traditional venture firms, asset managers and now a major bank's strategic-investment arm point to how far the "reindustrialization" theme has moved from a niche national-security concern into a mainstream institutional investment thesis.
