Defense Factory-Builder Hadrian Raises $1.37 Billion — Valuation Nears $8 Billion
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Hadrian, a US company that builds and operates factories for the defense and aerospace industries, has raised $1.37 billion in a Series D venture capital round. The deal values the company at just under $8 billion.
The round underscores that the theme of American “reindustrialization” is now attracting interest well beyond niche national-security and investor circles. CEO Chris Power sees his company as an early mover: he told Axios that Hadrian was early to the trend, and that it’s only been about eighteen months since the broader realization set in that new American manufacturing capacity and jobs were urgently needed.
What Hadrian makes
Hadrian manufactures precision parts and offers what amounts to “factories-as-a-service” for the aerospace and defense markets. The company combines skilled human workers with artificial intelligence, automation, and robotics, running on proprietary software called “Opus.”
Hadrian currently operates close to 3 million square feet of production space across four sites. It is also planning a new headquarters in Los Angeles and an engineering and R&D hub in San Francisco.
Where the components are used
Hadrian’s customers include the world’s largest arms manufacturers, among them Lockheed Martin and RTX, as well as newer defense firms — so-called “neo-primes” like Anduril Industries — and smaller outfits.
One concrete example: in March, the U.S. Navy announced that Hadrian would mass-produce components in Alabama for Virginia-class attack submarines and Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarines. Power argues his company is well ahead of competitors when it comes to highly automated, design-agnostic factories.
The broader context
Wars in the Middle East and Eastern Europe have pushed production capacity and munitions stockpiles into the spotlight. U.S. forces stationed abroad are currently firing expensive interceptors and missiles faster than they can be replenished domestically — though the Pentagon has denied that stockpiles are being depleted.
The funding details
The new Series D round comes a little over a year after a $260 million Series C. Investors include WCM Investment Management, Washington Harbour Partners, Valor Equity Partners, 137 Ventures, and Baillie Gifford. JPMorganChase’s Strategic Investment Group served as anchor co-lead, investing through its Security and Resiliency Initiative.
Power describes building domestic production capability as a “no-fail mission.” Advanced factories, he argues, are themselves a form of deterrence. In his view, the issue was never about inventory levels or elegant design — it’s about mass production capacity, which he says the country needs in place for the next four to ten years to maintain its leadership role in the world.
