Thiel-Backed Surveillance Startup Anduril Valued at $1.9 Billion

Anduril Industries Inc., a Southern California startup that builds technology for military agencies and border surveillance, said it raised a new funding round nearly doubling the company’s valuation to $1.9 billion.

Silicon Valley money has rapidly propelled the three-year-old company. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz led the latest financing, which totaled $200 million. The investment firm also participated in a deal about a year ago, along with Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and other VCs, that valued Anduril at about $1 billion. That was four times the valuation from a year earlier.

The business is controversial. Anduril builds surveillance towers and drones, along with software to automatically monitor areas like ...