This ethos also happens to be how Stephens operates.

The Anduril co-founder and executive chairman—and Founders Fund partner—became invested in foreign policy following 9/11. He found his way into Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, joined a U.S. intelligence agency after graduation, watched the pitfalls of bureaucracy fail, and left. Stephens joined Palantir early, then Founders Fund, then spent three years looking for a defense tech company worth backing but couldn’t find one. So in 2017, he built Anduril instead.

That bet is now a defense behemoth: $2 billion-plus in 2025 revenue (up 110% year-over-year), a $20 billion Army counter-drone contract, a five-million-square-foot drone factory in Ohio, and a $5 billion Series H last month at a $61 billion valuation, doubling the company’s worth in under a year.

But, his view from the top of the defense sector isn’t, it turns out, especially bullish. Virtually every mid-stage defense tech company, Stephens told me, trades at “50, 100, 200x multiples” while the underlying defense industry trades at 2 to 2.5x revenue. “It’s completely disconnected from reality.” Founders won’t accept acquisition at a discount to their last round—”there’s too much ego”—so most will simply be driven into the ground. “That’s not good long-term for the ecosystem.” 

He’s careful to credit the government for its part. “They have learned a lot in the last 10 years,” he said—pointing specifically to Other Transaction Authority agreements, which let the DoD bypass traditional procurement regulations to move faster with nontraditional contractors, and the Office of Strategic Capital, which is now seeking more than $20 billion in its FY2027 budget request. 

His critique is that venture capital is pricing the defense opportunity as if there will be 20 Andurils. Defense tech equity funding hit $17.9 billion in 2025, more than doubling year-over-year, and 2026 is already on pace to shatter that. The problem isn’t investment. It’s pricing. “There will be a couple of new credible players,” he said. “The rest is noise.”

See you tomorrow,

Lily Mae Lazarus
X: @LilyMaeLazarus
Email: lily.lazarus@fortune.com
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VENTURE CAPITAL

- Ramp, a New York City-based spend management and corporate card platform, raised $750 million in Series F funding. ICONIQ, GIC, and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan led the round and were joined by Goldman Sachs Alternatives, D.E. Shaw & Co., Morgan Stanley Investment Management, and others.

- Supabase, a San Francisco-based open-source backend-as-a-service platform built on Postgres, raised $500 million in funding. GIC led the round and was joined by Accel, Y Combinator, Craft, Felicis, Coatue, and Stripe.

- Helion Energy, an Everett, Wash.-based fusion energy developer, raised $465 million in Series G funding. Thrive Capital led the round and was joined by Alta Park Capital, Anti Fund, BoxGroup, and others.

- Generalist, a San Mateo, Calif.-based developer of general-purpose AI for physical robotics, raised $400 million in funding. Radical Ventures led the round and was joined by 8VC, Union Square Ventures, Hanabi Capital, and angel investors.

- Ona Therapeutics, a Barcelona, Spain-based biopharmaceutical company, raised $86.6 million in Series B funding. Columbus Venture Partners and Mérieux Equity Partners led the round.

- InCharge Energy, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based EV charging infrastructure and fleet electrification solutions provider, raised $46 million in funding from S2G Investments.

- Honeycomb Insurance, a Chicago, Ill.-based commercial real estate insurer, raised $40 million in funding. Zeev Ventures led the round and was joined by Ibex Investors and others.

- Airspeed, a London, U.K. and New York City-based AI platform designed to help revenue teams execute go-to-market workflows, raised $20 million in Series A funding. DN Capital led the round and was joined by Vi Partners, Framework Venture Partners, and Atlassian Ventures.

- Alitheon, a Bellevue, Wash.-based developer of optical AI technology, raised $8 million in Series A1 funding. Emerald Technology Ventures led the round and was joined by eBay Ventures and existing investors.

- Kalogon, a Melbourne, Fla.-based smart seating company, raised $5.8 million in funding. Enable Ventures led the round and was joined by Florida Opportunity Fund, Castellan Group, and existing investors.

- Intellectible, an Austin, Texas-based AI platform designed for revenue operations, raised $3 million in seed funding. Bread & Butter Ventures led the round and was joined by Vicorum Capital, Gray Ventures, Circadian Ventures, Allied VC, High Street Equity Partners, and others.

PRIVATE EQUITY

- ATC, backed by AE Industrial Partners, acquired Aero Controls, an Auburn, Wash.-based provider of specialized, precision-engineered component MRO services. Financial terms were not disclosed.

EXITS

- Brand Velocity Group acquired RCX Sports, a Roswell, Ga.-based youth sports platform, from Raine Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Warren Equity Partners acquired USG Water Solutions, an Atlanta, Ga.-based management and maintenance solutions company for water utilities, from Turnspire Capital Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.

IPOS

- Parabilis Medicines, a Cambridge, Mass.-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, plans to raise up to $475 million in an offering of 25 million shares priced between $17 and $19 on the Nasdaq. ARCH Venture Fund, Cormorant, FMR, GV, Milky Way Investments, NExtech, RA Capital, and venBio back the company.

- Liftoff Mobile, a Redwood City, Calif.-based marketing and monetization platform for mobile businesses, raised $437 million in an offering of 19 million shares priced at $23 on the Nasdaq.

PEOPLE

- Congruent Ventures, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, promoted Tanuj Dutta to General Partner.