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Silicon Valley VCs are now openly investing in hypersonic weapons companies

a16z Podcasta16z Podcast · WSJ x a16z: The Next 25 Years of Defense Innovation

“What is the thing that we need to be investing in in the next ten years?”

0:04 / 0:25

Our view is investing in sort of ahead of what is the next theater? What is the thing that we need to be investing in in the next ten years? Is that the next war is actually going to be fought in space. A couple years ago, if I had said I invested in a hypersonic weapon company in Silicon Valley, I think I would have been kicked out of the room. And in 2023, when we invested in Andreessen Horowitz, there was not a peep out of people thinking that this was terrible.

About this clip

A venture capitalist discusses how defense investing has rapidly shifted from taboo to mainstream in Silicon Valley. They explain their thesis of investing ahead of emerging theaters like space warfare, noting how attitudes toward funding hypersonic weapons companies completely changed between just a few years ago and 2023.

Why this clip

This captures a dramatic shift in Silicon Valley's willingness to fund defense technology, highlighting how quickly investor sentiment can change on controversial sectors.

0:04 - 0:2520smarket insight
defense-techventure-capitalspace-warfare

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What they said next

Why Silicon Valley's next 25 years will be defined by defense tech

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Consequences

If you have fifteen years where everyone says, oh, we're not going to build this or work or the best engineers are not going to go into these companies, then it ultimately leads to a decay. You haven't done research and development. You're not fighting the next theater.

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