Anduril Industries, a defense startup co-founded by Palmer Luckey, has raised a $1.5bn Series E round that gives it a $7bn pre-money valuation. The investment represents the second-biggest venture capital round for an American startup so far in 2022.
Palmer Luckey is best known as the founder of Oculus, the virtual reality company that Meta (formerly Facebook) acquired for $3bn in 2014. After selling Oculus, he remained at Facebook for several years before getting fired in 2017 amid controversy about his political donations. In that same year, he teamed up with an early employee of Oculus and three alumni of Palantir Technologies to launch Anduril.
Anduril’s Series E round was led by Valor Equity Partners, an existing investor, with participation from many others including Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital, and Thomas Tull’s US Innovative Technology Fund. Including the new round, Anduril has raised a total of $1.9bn from VCs.
What Does Anduril Do?
Anduril sells surveillance and weapons systems to the U.S. military and its allies. For example, it has surveillance towers and software deployed at the US-Mexico border and some US military bases. This January, the company won a $970mn contract to supply unmanned aerial systems for the U.S. special operations forces (SOF). Another major Anduril customer is the Australian Navy, which awarded the company a $100mn contract to build unmanned undersea surveillance vehicles.
In retrospect, Anduril is an upstart challenger seeking to bite a considerable slice of the lucrative global defense market. It’s booming at a strategic time wherein the Russia-Ukraine war has prompted the U.S. and its allies to increase defense spending. The Outlook
With a steady stream of government contracts, Anduril seems like an attractive bet for venture capitalists such that it raised $1.5bn in a year when VC funding has plunged over 50% compared to the previous year. The only American company that has raised a bigger round this year is Elon Musk’s SpaceX— $1.7bn according to a June SEC filing. Anduril and SpaceX share common investors including Valor Equity Partners and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund.
Anduril says it currently has over 1,100 employees compared to 700 at the beginning of 2022. $1.5bn is ample capital for the company to continue to expand and invest in new products like its Altius loitering munition drones.
OK here we go...
In the 60s and 70s, LotR was way more closely associated with hippies than anything on the right. When I was a kid in the 80s and 90s, religious right wingers would lump it in with the satanic panic (I wasn't allowed to read it). All this fashy love for LotR is after the movies came out, and I don't think it's a coincidence.
I bet you dollars to donuts the fash who like LotR don't even read the books. The movies - in particular the last 2 - overly emphasize the "WE MUST DEFEND THE WEST FROM THE EVIL HORDES" aspect. I'm not saying that's not there in the books but the movies over-emphasize it quite a bit. I actually rewatched the trilogy for the first time in a decade recently and was surprised how uncomfortable the last 2 movies made me. The movies do feel like they're coded with fash dogwhistles in a way the books are not. I would say the "vibe" of the first movie is more aligned with all 3 books way better than the last 2 movies are.
I also thinks it's as simple as the story is very "European" and so the "RETVRN TO TRADITION" crowd loves it just for that aspect alone, especially the movies.
But also as Ulysses said, I think there are aspects of the story like the elves that I don't think Tolkien had any ill intent, but is definitely easy for fascists to dovetail into their own worldview.
I understand this is a pretty weak defense but I think it's important to recognize before the movies came out the books had a very broad base of fans and the notion that it was the darling of the right (Meloni excluded I guess) isn't really accurate. At the same time I can acknowledge even the books have problematic aspects.
I actually plan on re-reading the trilogy this winter for the first time as a leftist. I'm curious to see how I'll feel about it then.
Interesting
In my experience (which is limited) with fantasy, fash generally don't like elves even if they are very ubermensh. Fash generally go for rugged "humanity fuck yeah" stubble heroes.
The elves are immortal, ancient and powerful, yes, but they are also on their way out. Their part in the story is done. They aren't as dynamic as humans, and their long lifespans tend to make them melancholic and fatalistic. The fash see themselves reflected more in the plucky upstart humans. Of all the things in Tolkien they probably see themselves as Numenoreans
Even in most fantasy stuff derived from Tolkien elves are depicted as a diminished or even straight up fallen race who are depicted as haughty, arrogant or just racist towards everyone else
I think part of it is because elves are seen as effeminate or gay.
The Hobbit movies leaned into this too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVQtzBTV76Y
I think this was supposed to be right after the scene where the Dwarves are grossed out by the Elves eating nothing but greens