Defense technology startup Epirus has raised between $150 million and $200 million in a new funding round led by Joe Lonsdale's venture firm 8VC, Bloomberg reported. The round could value the company, which develops technology to intercept drones, at about $1 billion. If this is the final valuation, it would be down from the company's previous valuation of $1.35 billion. (Ipilus did not comment to Bloomberg.)
Lonsdale co-founded the company in 2018 with Beau Marr, Max Mednick, Nathan Mintz, Grant Verstandig and John Tenet. The startup has already raised nearly $300 million from investors including DCVC and Bedrock, according to PitchBook. The company is also one of the few U.S.-based defense technology unicorns, along with companies like Anduril, Shield AI, and Rebellion Defense.
Only time will tell whether defense funding in 2025 will reach last year's highs, when startups in the sector received about $3 billion through November.