Anduril, the nine-year-old startup for defence technology, has closed the biggest funding round in its history: 5 billion dollars (about 4.6 billion euros), at an estimated valuation of 61 billion dollars. That's more than double the valuation it had a year ago - when it stood at 30.5 billion.

The round, Series H, was led by Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz - the existing investors who clearly refuse to step back. For 2025 alone, the company's revenues have doubled to 2.2 billion dollars. Total raised from investors: over 11 billion.

Why does this matter to Balkan readers? Because Anduril no longer works only for the US military. Last month, it landed a contract from the Dutch Ministry of Defence. A contract with the US Army for battlefield management software (the „Lattice" platform). And - perhaps most importantly - part of a contract for the development of the „Golden Dome" space defence system, specifically described as a missile shield for the continental US.

Brian Schimpf, CEO of Anduril, sums up the moment: „When we founded Anduril in 2017, defence wasn't a category that attracted significant venture investment." Now it's one of the hottest. Shield AI raised 1.5 billion at a 12.7-billion valuation. Hermeus raised 350 million at over 1 billion. Helsing is about to do 1.2 billion at around 18 billion.

What's happening here isn't isolated. The US Department of Defense is deliberately diversifying its investment across multiple „next stars" instead of committing to a single giant. That means a long-term market, more contracts, bigger budgets. And it means that in the next five years, war will be conducted by software that today is still only collecting capital.

The Balkans, which have for decades watched a defence industry defined by Lockheed and Raytheon, will have to learn new names.