Hadrian, a private defense manufacturing startup that supplies the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin Corp., announced it has closed a $1.37 billion Series D financing round that places the company at a $7.87 billion valuation.
The new investment was anchored by JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Strategic Investment Group, which acted as a co-lead investor through its Security and Resiliency Initiative. A group of co-leads also participated in the financing, including WCM Investment Management, Washington Harbour Partners, Valor Equity Partners, 137 Ventures, and Baillie Gifford.
The company said the round drew substantial backing from a slate of institutional and strategic investors. Major participation came from 1789 Capital, with additional commitments from Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, funds managed by Apollo, accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., CapitalG, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Altimeter, Construct Capital, and existing investors.
Hadrian plans to use the proceeds to accelerate construction of new factories, expand research and development, and increase production capacity for mission-critical systems. Over the past 12 months the company has opened facilities in Mesa, Arizona, and Muscle Shoals, Alabama, bringing its total footprint to just under 3 million square feet distributed over four sites.
Looking ahead, Hadrian said it intends to roll out further factories and to broaden its manufacturing scope into munitions and autonomous systems production over the next year.
"Production is now the frontline of deterrence," said Chris Power, founder and CEO of Hadrian. "Americas ability to lead will depend on whether we can build, train, and scale faster. This financing allows Hadrian to accelerate building the Factories of the Future, expand into new mission-critical production capabilities, and invest in the technicians and engineers who will rebuild Americas industrial base."
The infusion of capital positions Hadrian to continue expanding its manufacturing footprint and technical capabilities to meet defense demand, while reinforcing investments in personnel and R&D tied to national security-related production needs.
Context and implications
Hadrian framed the financing as a means to speed manufacturing scale-up for mission-critical defense systems. The funding will be deployed across physical expansion - additional factories - and capabilities development including munitions and autonomous systems production, as well as research and the workforce needed to operate expanded facilities.