Defense Tech Giant Anduril Eyes Israel Expansion and Local Hiring

Anduril, the fast-growing U.S. defense startup, has begun exploring a formal presence in Israel, according to information received by Calcalist. In recent days, the company has been in talks to hire a manager for a local office whose job would be to meet Israeli startups and build business ties. Over the past few weeks, it has also held meetings with candidates from Elbit and MAFAT, while separately considering setting up a development operation and hiring employees in Israel.

The company, which works in military drones and robotics, raised $5 billion about a month ago at a $61 billion valuation, led by Andreessen Horowitz and Thrive Capital, Josh Kushner’s firm. Founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey, who earlier created Oculus and sold it to Facebook in 2014 for $2 billion, Anduril is now viewed as one of the rare startups, alongside Palantir, to scale from small beginnings into major sales to the U.S. defense establishment and other militaries. In 2025, it reported $2.2 billion in revenue and 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 calling himself a “radical Zionist.” The trip was organized by Josh Wolf, founder of Lux and one of Anduril’s earliest investors, and included a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During the visit, Luckey was introduced to Israel’s defense startup scene through MAFAT, which arranged a meeting with 10 Israeli defense startups, including Smart Shooter, now listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, as well as Kela, Oaz, 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 its drones. It has also shown interest in LiteVision, a defense startup backed by Kinetica and developing cameras for drones, though LiteVision has so far received funding from 8VC, the first investor in Palantir and also an investor in Anduril. Kinetica chairman Itz Appelbaum said, “Israel is the most logical place for Anduril to be,” adding that the company’s meetings in Israel created “great interest” and that Anduril wants to invest in startups, buy companies, and eventually sell to the defense industry and the IDF.