Anduril readies for growth

By Marjorie Censer / February 19, 2021 at 11:49 AM

Defense contractor Anduril, which has about 400 employees, is expecting to nearly double by the end of the year and is preparing to move to a new headquarters.

In an interview with Inside Defense earlier this month, Matt Grimm, Anduril's chief operating officer, said the company ended 2020 at 360 employees and has since passed the 400-employee mark.

By the end of the year, he said, Anduril expects to have between 700 and 800 employees.

"What we're really doing is just doubling down on the [recruitment] strategy," he said, adding the company is seeking to hire hardware and software engineers as well as artificial intelligence talent. Anduril produces both software and hardware, including an AI software product called Lattice and an unmanned aerial system.

However, Grimm said the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is making recruiting more challenging.

"It's much harder to recruit in this era," he said, adding that the pandemic has put limitations on business development as well.

Because travel is so difficult, "it's just made the sales process a little slower," he said. "It's not like the budgets evaporated. . . . It's just getting to the right folks."

Grimm said the company has "reworked our approach on some of our sales tactics," including sending fewer people to meetings and hiring two people in the United Kingdom to manage sales there.

Grimm said about 60% of the company is currently working from home.

Anduril also announced earlier this year it plans to move its headquarters to the former newsroom of the Los Angeles Times. The property has been redeveloped into a 432,000-square-foot space.

Anduril will move to the new location early next year. The company will also build a 200,000-square-foot research and development space there.

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