Anduril, the fast-growing U.S. defense-tech startup, has begun exploring a formal entry into Israel. According to information obtained by Calcalist, the company is in talks to hire a local manager to identify Israeli startups and build business ties with them. Over the past few weeks, it has already held meetings with candidates from Elbit and Israel’s defense directorate, MAFAT, while also weighing the creation of an Israeli development operation and local hiring.
The company, which works on military drones and robotics, raised $5 billion about a month ago at a valuation of $61 billion. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz and Thrive Capital, the firm founded by Josh Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner. Anduril was founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey, who earlier created Oculus and sold it to Facebook in 2014 for $2 billion. In 2025, Anduril posted $2.2 billion in revenue and had about 7,000 employees, up from just 90 in 2019; its previous funding round, about a year ago, valued it at $30 billion.
Luckey visited Israel in February, after previously describing himself as a “radical Zionist.” The trip, arranged by Josh Wolfe, founder of Lux Capital and one of Anduril’s early investors, included a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During the visit, Luckey was also introduced to Israel’s defense-startup scene through MAFAT, which organized a gathering of 10 Israeli defense startups, including Smart Shooter, now publicly traded in Tel Aviv, along with Kela, Oz, Skana Robotics, Regulus, Magnus Metal, EyesAtop and AriEV.
Anduril already has agreements with several Israeli companies, including ASIO, which is expected to supply components for drones. It has also shown interest in LiteVision, a defense startup from Kinetica that develops cameras for drones and has so far received an investment from 8VC, an early investor in Palantir and also invested in Anduril. Kinetica chairman Itz Appelbaum said, “Israel is the most logical place for Anduril to be.” He added that the meetings in Israel created “great interest” and that the company wants to invest in startups, buy companies and eventually sell to the defense industry and the IDF.
