IPO Candidate Anduril Industries Makes Military Drones -- and Shoots Them Down, Too
Anduril has built a big business in military drones, but the market for drone defense could be even bigger.
Privately held Anduril Industries was named after the Sword of Kings in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Established for the purpose of building fantastical, artificial intelligence-powered weapons for the U.S. military, it has at least a couple of things in common with another defense contractor with a name borrowed from Tolkien: Palantir.
The biggest difference between the two companies: Palantir is publicly traded, and Anduril isn't -- so you can't yet invest in Anduril.
However, Anduril has made no secret of its intention to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) sometime soon. For that reason, over the past few weeks, I've been conducting a moderately deep dive into Anduril -- who founded it, what it does, and when it might go public.
