There are at least 24 US defense tech unicorns, privately held American startups valued at $1 billion or more, as of November 14, 2026. Anduril Industries leads at $61 billion after a $5 billion Series H on May 13, 2026, followed by Shield AI at $28.8 billion after a $1 billion Series H announced on November 5, 2026.
Applied Intuition ($15 billion), Castelion ($13 billion) and Saronic ($9.25 billion) complete the top five. Together the 24 companies in the table below carry about $189 billion in stated valuations, and Anduril alone accounts for roughly a third of that. None of them is listed on a stock exchange.
Every row links the source we used for the number. Valuations come from a priced funding round, as announced by the company or reported by an established outlet. Reports of talks, acquisition prices and database estimates are covered separately further down, because they are not the same thing.
How we count a defense tech unicorn
The list uses the same definition as the America Defense Tech directory: the company is privately held, headquartered in the United States, founded in 2010 or later, and builds for defense or national security. Dual-use companies count when defense is a stated market, which is why autonomy software makers such as Applied Intuition appear next to missile and drone builders.
Two rules decide whether a company is in the table. First, the $1 billion figure must be tied to a funding round, not to a rumor or a secondary-market quote. Second, where the company only said its valuation was "more than" or "about" a figure, we print it that way. Large public contractors such as Lockheed Martin, RTX, AeroVironment and Kratos are outside the scope, and so are companies founded before 2010.
US defense tech unicorns ranked by valuation (November 2026)
| # | Company | HQ | Sector | Latest valuation | Round, date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anduril Industries | Costa Mesa, CA | Autonomy and AI software | $61B | Series H, $5B, May 13, 2026 | TechCrunch |
| 2 | Shield AI | San Diego, CA | Drones | $28.8B | Series H, $1B, Nov 5, 2026 | Company release |
| 3 | Applied Intuition | Mountain View, CA | Autonomy and AI software | $15B | Series F, $600M, Jun 17, 2025 | Company release |
| 4 | Castelion | Torrance, CA | Hypersonics | About $13B | Series C, $1B, Aug 19, 2026 | Orrick |
| 5 | Saronic | Austin, TX | Maritime | $9.25B | Series D, $1.75B, Mar 31, 2026 | SiliconANGLE |
| 6 | Sierra Space | Louisville, CO | Space | $8B | Series C, $550M, Mar 2026 | Wikipedia, citing SpaceNews |
| 7 | Hadrian | Hawthorne, CA | Manufacturing | $7.87B | Series D, $1.37B, Aug 6, 2026 | The Next Web |
| 8 | K2 Space | Torrance, CA | Space | $6.8B | Series D, $500M, Jul 30, 2026 | Cooley |
| 9 | CesiumAstro | Austin, TX | Space | More than $4.5B | Series D, $730M, Nov 5, 2026 | Via Satellite |
| 10 | Chaos Industries | Los Angeles, CA | Sensors and radar | About $4.5B | Series D, $510M, Nov 2025 | Washington Technology |
| 11 | Skydio | San Mateo, CA | Drones | $4.4B | Series F, $110M, Apr 23, 2026 | DroneXL |
| 12 | Mach Industries | Huntington Beach, CA | Munitions | $3.7B | Series C extension, $600M, Sep 2026 | The Defense Post |
| 13 | ASI (Air Space Intelligence) | Boston, MA | Autonomy and AI software | $3B | Series C, $325M, Oct 20, 2026 | The Next Web |
| 14 | Neros Technologies | El Segundo, CA | Drones | $2.5B | Series C, $250M, Aug 2026 | The Robot Report |
| 15 | Apex | Los Angeles, CA | Space | $2.3B | Growth round, $200M, Jun 2026 | Payload |
| 16 | Divergent Technologies | Torrance, CA | Manufacturing | $2.3B | Series E, $290M, Sep 2025 | LA Business Journal |
| 17 | Allen Control Systems | Austin, TX | Counter-drone | $2.2B | Series B, $200M, Jun 2026 | The Robot Report |
| 18 | True Anomaly | Centennial, CO | Space | $2.2B | Series D, $650M, Apr 28, 2026 | SiliconANGLE |
| 19 | Onebrief | Honolulu, HI | Autonomy and AI software | More than $2B | Series D, $200M, Jan 13, 2026 | Built In |
| 20 | Firehawk | Dallas, TX | Propulsion and energetics | More than $1.4B | Series D, $150M+, Oct 30, 2026 | Orrick |
| 21 | Defense Unicorns | San Antonio, TX | Cyber and software | More than $1B | Series B, $136M, Jan 13, 2026 | Bain Capital |
| 22 | Hermeus | El Segundo, CA | Hypersonics | $1B | Series C, $350M, Apr 8, 2026 | Built In |
| 23 | Twenty | Arlington, VA | Cyber | About $1B | Series B, $100M, Jun 2026 | Washington Technology |
| 24 | Govini | Arlington, VA | Autonomy and AI software | Undisclosed, described as a unicorn | Growth, $150M, Oct 2025 | Bain Capital |
Notes: valuations are post-money where the source says so; most releases do not specify. Castelion's $1 billion Series C was $800 million of equity plus a $250 million revolving credit facility. Shield AI's November package adds $1 billion of structured equity from Blackstone funds and $500 million of debt, and the new money is tied to closing its planned purchase of radar maker Echodyne. Govini's investor, Bain Capital, calls it a unicorn without publishing a number.
Who are the most valuable defense tech companies in the US?
Anduril is in a category of its own. Its valuation doubled from $30.5 billion in June 2025 to $61 billion in May 2026, on 2025 revenue of $2.2 billion, according to TechCrunch. Reuters reported on July 24, 2026 that it was in talks at about $100 billion; no round had been announced as of November 14. The full sequence is in our Anduril valuation history.
Shield AI moved fastest in 2026. It was valued at $5.3 billion in March 2025, $12.7 billion in March 2026 and $28.8 billion in November 2026, per TechCrunch and the company. Our Shield AI valuation page has every round.
Castelion is the youngest company near the top. Founded in November 2022 by former SpaceX employees, it raised a $14.2 million seed in October 2023 and was valued at about $13 billion less than three years later. See the Castelion funding history. Saronic, the Austin maker of autonomous surface vessels, more than doubled from $4 billion in its February 2025 Series C (TechCrunch) to $9.25 billion in March 2026.
Which sectors produce defense tech unicorns?
Software and space lead the count. Five companies in the table sit in autonomy and AI software (Anduril, Applied Intuition, ASI, Onebrief, Govini) and five in space and ISR (Sierra Space, K2 Space, CesiumAstro, Apex, True Anomaly). Drones and hypersonics have three each.
- Autonomy and AI software: 5 companies
- Space and ISR: 5
- Drones: 3 (Shield AI, Skydio, Neros)
- Hypersonics and propulsion: 3 (Castelion, Firehawk, Hermeus)
- Manufacturing: 2 (Hadrian, Divergent)
- Cyber: 2 (Twenty, Defense Unicorns)
- Maritime, munitions, radar, counter-drone: 1 each (Saronic, Mach Industries, Chaos Industries, Allen Control Systems)
The weapons-production names are the newest. Mach Industries was valued at $470 million in June 2025, $1.8 billion in June 2026 and $3.7 billion in September 2026, according to TechCrunch and The Defense Post. Firehawk, which makes energetics and rocket motors, passed $1.4 billion in October 2026.
Where are US defense tech unicorns based?
California holds 13 of the 24, mostly in the South Bay of Los Angeles County. Torrance alone has Castelion, K2 Space and Divergent; El Segundo has Neros and Hermeus; Hadrian is in Hawthorne and Anduril in Costa Mesa. The full list of California defense tech companies is in the directory.
Texas is second with five: Saronic, CesiumAstro and Allen Control Systems in Austin, Firehawk in Dallas and Defense Unicorns in San Antonio. Colorado (Sierra Space, True Anomaly) and Virginia (Twenty, Govini) have two each, and Massachusetts and Hawaii one each.
Valuations that are reported, not priced
Several large numbers circulate that do not meet the table's test. We list them here with their status:
- Anduril at about $100 billion: talks reported by Reuters on July 24, 2026 (via Defense News). Anduril said no decisions had been made.
- Applied Intuition at about $30 billion: talks to raise at least $1.5 billion, reported by Bloomberg on November 11, 2026 (summarized by AI Weekly).
- Apex at about $4 billion: talks to raise about $500 million, reported by Bloomberg in October 2026 (SatNews).
- Echodyne at $5.3 billion: the price Shield AI agreed to pay for the Kirkland, Washington radar maker, $4.8 billion at closing plus up to $500 million on performance targets, with closing expected in early 2027. That is an acquisition value, not a funding round.
- Scale AI: Meta bought a 49% non-voting stake for about $14.8 billion in June 2025 (Wikipedia). The company sells to the Pentagon but did not publish a valuation, so it is not ranked.
- Undisclosed valuations: Stoke Space raised a $1 billion Series E in September 2026 and Epirus a $250 million Series D in March 2025 without publishing a valuation (The Next Web, Built In).
Databases add more names. Dealroom's defense unicorn list, checked on November 14, 2026, also counts Armada ($2.2 billion), Radiant Industries ($1.8 billion), Epirus ($1.4 billion), Gecko Robotics ($1.3 billion) and Nominal ($1 billion). We have not matched those figures to a round announcement, and the same list still shows Mach Industries at $1.8 billion, two rounds out of date, so treat them as estimates.
One more exclusion: Forterra, the ground autonomy company valued at about $1 billion in its November 2025 Series C according to Bloomberg as cited by The Robot Report, lists 2002 as its founding year in our directory, before the 2010 cutoff.
How fast is the list growing?
Money into the sector hit records in both 2025 and 2026. Crunchbase counted $9.6 billion of global defense tech venture funding in 2025 and more than $14.6 billion in 2026 by June 2, already above the prior full-year record, according to Crunchbase News. TechCrunch, citing different data, put first-half 2026 defense tech venture funding above $12 billion.
Nine of the 24 companies in the table set their current valuation after June 2026. The newest additions are CesiumAstro (November 5), Shield AI's Series H (November 5), Firehawk (October 30) and ASI (October 20). This page is updated when a new round is announced.
Are any defense tech unicorns publicly traded?
No. Every company in the table is private, has no stock ticker, and does not file annual reports with the SEC. Shares change hands only in private rounds, employee tender offers and secondary transactions, which are generally limited to accredited investors. Our guide to whether you can buy Anduril stock explains how that works.
Investors looking for listed defense technology names usually turn to public companies such as Palantir (Nasdaq: PLTR), AeroVironment (Nasdaq: AVAV), Kratos (Nasdaq: KTOS) and Karman (NYSE: KRMN), which are outside the scope of this list. Crunchbase's prediction tools flag Anduril, Shield AI, True Anomaly, Sierra Space and Chaos as likely IPO candidates, but none had filed a public registration statement as of November 14, 2026.
This article is for information only and is not investment advice.
