Peter Thiel's firm. Anchor backer of Anduril since the 2017 seed and lead of Palantir's early rounds. About 20% of managed capital is the partners' own money, unusual for VC. Closed a $4.6B growth fund in 2025 and wrote a $1B check into Anduril the same year, its largest ever.

Backs: Anduril, Palantir, Scale AI, Hadrian, Hermeus

The largest fund on this map. Its American Dynamism practice, launched in 2022 and run by Katherine Boyle, is an explicit thesis that startups should build for national security. Co-led Anduril's $5B Series H in May 2026.

Backs: Anduril, Shield AI, Hadrian, Saronic, Applied Intuition, Castelion, Skydio, Apex

Josh Kushner's firm, best known for OpenAI and Stripe. Co-led Anduril's 2026 round at $61B. Refuses to comment on its limited partners, including whether any are sovereign wealth funds. CalPERS is a documented LP.

Backs: Anduril, Scale AI, OpenAI

Hemant Taneja runs it under a 'global resilience' thesis that groups defense with healthcare and energy. Backs Anduril, Saronic, Applied Intuition, Vannevar Labs, and Epirus.

Backs: Anduril, Saronic, Applied Intuition, Epirus, Vannevar Labs

Joe Lonsdale's firm. Early money in Anduril, Saronic, Epirus, and Chaos Industries. Lonsdale co-founded Palantir with Thiel, which makes 8VC and Founders Fund the two arms of the same original network.

Backs: Anduril, Saronic, Epirus, Chaos Industries

Josh Wolfe's deep-tech firm. On Anduril's board, led Hadrian's early rounds, and backs Primer, Saildrone, and Applied Intuition.

Backs: Anduril, Hadrian, Applied Intuition, Primer, Saildrone

Antonio Gracias's firm. Led Anduril's $1.48B Series E in 2022. Historically an early Tesla and SpaceX investor.

Backs: Anduril

Late to defense but now leading rounds in Mach Industries and Neros through partner Shaun Maguire. Leadership changed in November 2025: Roelof Botha stepped aside and Alfred Lin and Pat Grady became co-stewards, after a summer in which Maguire's posts cost the firm its COO.

Backs: Mach Industries, Neros

Backer of Scale AI, Skydio, and Chaos Industries. Less defense-branded than the others; these are portfolio bets rather than a thesis.

Backs: Scale AI, Chaos Industries, Skydio

David Sacks's firm. Led Allen Control Systems' Series A, the company behind the Bullfrog autonomous gun turret, valued at $2.2B by June 2026. Also holds a stake in Anduril, which Sacks kept while serving as White House AI czar.

Backs: Anduril, Allen Control Systems

Not a private fund. A nonprofit venture arm created by the CIA and funded by the intelligence community. Backs Hermeus and Primer among many others. Its returns go back to the government.

Backs: Hermeus, Primer

Backs Castelion (hypersonic missiles) and K2 Space. A generalist fund with a growing defense allocation.

Backs: Castelion, K2 Space

A legacy prime's corporate venture arm. Backs Firestorm Labs. Shows the incumbents buying into the startups meant to displace them.

Backs: Firestorm Labs

Small, specialist fund. Early in Shield AI and True Anomaly.

Backs: Shield AI, True Anomaly