Anduril Industries Inc. and Archer Aviation Inc. announced an exclusive partnership to jointly develop a hybrid VTOL aircraft for critical defense applications targeting a potential program of record from the DOD. With Archer's ability to rapidly develop advanced VTOL aircraft using existing commercial parts and supply chains and Anduril's deep expertise in artificial intelligence, missionization, and systems integration, the partnership will accelerate speed to market for critical hybrid VTOL capabilities at a fraction of the cost of more traditional alternatives. Archer's efforts on this project will be part of its new Archer Defense program.
To support this initiative and for other general corporate purposes, Archer raised $430 million in additional equity capital, with participation from Stellantis, United Airlines, and new institutional investors, including Wellington Management and Abu Dhabi investment holding company 2PointZero. Archer ended Third Quarter'24 with $502 million of cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet and this raise brings Archer's total capital raised to nearly $2B to date. Following this capital raise, and together with Archer's other announced financing arrangements, Archer believes it is now well-positioned with one of the sector's leading balance sheets with no near-term financing needs.