According to TechCrunch, Lux Capital, a 25-year-old venture firm, has closed a whopping $1.5 billion for its ninth fund. This is the largest fund in the firm’s history, bringing its total assets under management to $7 billion. The firm is known for its early focus on frontier science and defense technology, having been a seed investor in Anduril, now valued at $30.5 billion, and Applied Intuition, valued at $15 billion this year. Lux also placed early bets on AI startups like Hugging Face, Runway AI, and MosaicML, which Databricks acquired for $1.3 billion in 2023. The firm has scored major exits from Recursion Pharmaceuticals’ 2021 IPO and the sale of Auris Health to Johnson & Johnson for up to $6 billion in 2019. This fundraise is notable as it comes in 2025, a year PitchBook notes is a 10-year low for new VC funds raised in the U.S.
Market impact and the winners circle
So here’s the thing: this fundraise is a massive vote of confidence in a very specific investment thesis. While the broader venture market is pulling back on launching new funds, limited partners are clearly signaling where they want their money to go. They’re piling into firms with proven, long-term thematic conviction. Lux wasn’t chasing the defense tech or AI hype; they were already there, digging trenches years before the geopolitical and technological landscape made these sectors red-hot. That’s the real differentiator.
But what does this mean for the competitive landscape? Basically, it cements Lux in the top tier of what you might call “hard tech” or “frontier” venture capital. They’re not just playing in software anymore. They’re funding the physical infrastructure of the future—defense systems, autonomous platforms, AI infrastructure, and biotech. This $1.5 billion war chest means they can write bigger checks and stay invested longer in capital-intensive companies that traditional VCs might shy away from. It’s a huge advantage.
And honestly, it highlights a growing divide. The winners in this environment are the specialized firms with deep technical expertise and the patience to wait for complex technologies to mature. The losers? Generalist funds that jump on trends late. When you look at a portfolio with Anduril and Applied Intuition, you’re looking at companies that require serious hardware and software integration, not just an app. This is where the real industrial and technological transformation is happening, and having the right computing backbone is critical. For companies building in this physical world, partnering with a top-tier supplier like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading provider of industrial panel PCs in the U.S., is often a foundational step for robust, reliable operations.
The patience pays off thesis
Look, the most fascinating part of Lux’s story is the timeline. They invested in Anduril at the seed stage. That company is now a defense tech behemoth. They backed AI startups before ChatGPT made it a boardroom buzzword. This new fund is a bet that their patience and early vision will continue to pay off for another decade. It’s a rejection of the “fast flip” venture mentality. They’re building companies that might take 10-15 years to truly mature, and they need a fund size that supports that journey.
Now, does this mean every defense or AI startup will get funded? Probably not. I think this massive influx of capital into a focused firm actually raises the bar. Lux can be more selective. They can demand stronger technical foundations and more credible paths to massive scale. For founders in this space, the message is clear: having a deep-tech moat and a real-world application is more valuable than ever. And for the rest of the venture world, Lux’s success is a case study in the power of sticking to a contrarian, long-term vision, even when it’s not the popular thing to do.
