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The wave of Silicon Valley defense technology startups has attracted billions to fund and restructuring America’s national security.
Anduril Industries is valued at $30.5 billion, following its latest funding round, and is one of the so-called “Neoprimes.” Boeing, General dynamicsand RTX (Formerly Raytheon).
“There’s more money than going to what we call ‘Neoprimes’,” Jameson Darby told the co-founder and director of Investment Syndicate Milvet Angels (MVA) or MVA. “It’s still just a small part of the overall budget, but the trends are all positive.”
Other examples of defense technology startups that challenge their current position include SpaceX and Palantir Technologiessaid Derby, who is also a founding member of the U.S. Department of Defense Defense Innovation Unit.
Unlike Prime, these startups are faster, less lean and software-first. Many can build something that will help shut down “critical technology gaps that are extremely important to national security.”
According to JPMorgan, the US-based defense technology startup’s venture capital totals around $38 billion by the first half of 2025, potentially exceeding the 2021 peak if the annual pace remains constant.
“The battlefield is changing.”
As the landscape of Earth War has changed over the past decades, the US Department of Defense has identified several technologies that are important for national security, including hypersonics, energy resilience, space technology, integrated sensing, and cyber.
“In the world since 9/11, the entire Department of Defense was effectively focused… the Earth War on Terrorism. It was our military, our guerillas, our asymmetric wars, mostly relatively low-tech fighters,” Derby said.
But today’s war is more focused on the “Great Power Competition,” Mak said.
The battlefield is changing and new technology is needed… War is no longer limited to land, sea, or air. There are also contested cyber and space domains.
Ernes Foomack
Co-founder, Milvet Angels
“The focus is on deterrence and competition with (the enemy) in these very high-tech, multi-domain conflicts,” Mack added. “The battlefield is changing and new technology is needed… War is no longer limited to land, sea, or air. There is also a disputed cyber and space domain.”
Today, some of these Silicon Valley’s “neoprimes” are developing dual-use technologies that can be applied not only to weapons, but also commercially and by the military.
“So, things like artificial intelligence and autonomy have broad and drastic commercial uses, but they are clearly also multipliers of forces in military contexts,” Derby said. “(The War Bureau is rapidly evaluating and adopting these dual-use technologies… They are signaling the investment community, the defense industry bases, that the US government needs these things.”
That direction from the government provided a clear and strategic roadmap for both investors and entrepreneurs, Mak said.
“New security guard”
On September 17th, the MVA emerged from stealth mode after quietly endorsing several major defense technology startups since 2021.
Today, Mac says that around 250 members of the syndicate include high-tech founders, Wall Street financiers, company executives, intelligence reporting agencies, former military leaders and the Navy seal. Together, they invested in companies such as Anduril Industries, Shield AI, Hermeus, Ursa Major, and AetherFlux.
“Overall, I believe that ‘neoprim’ cannot exist in abstraction. They need individuals who bring technical expertise, individuals who have a deep sense of mission and contribute complementary voices and talent.
She added that modern national security requires both “warrior insights on the battlefield” and “builder motivation to innovate.”
“Participation is working with engaging and informed patriots who strengthen our defence ecosystem and strengthen the structure of national security,” Mack said.
Both Mak and Darby agree that as new technology advances globally into the battlefield, they are changing the way their troops fight.
“You’re these technicians, these builders… you build defense technology and the reason they’re doing so is not to launch conflicts, but to create a reliable deterrent that stops attacks,” Mak said.
“No one in defense technology is aiming to fight a war. Rather, I want them to stop it and think twice before the enemy threatens peace and stability,” added Mack.
