Warhound Launches With $200 Million Seed Round to Clone and Gene-Edit Military Working Dogs

Warhound, a Texas-based defense tech startup, exited stealth with a $200 million seed round to breed, clone and gene-edit military working dogs for the U.S. military, the company told Fortune. The round was backed by In-Q-Tel, Sequoia Capital, ARK Invest, Franklin Templeton, 8VC, USIT, Breyer Capital, Lux Capital and others. The company was conceived by Colossal Biosciences CEO Ben Lamm and Anduril founder Palmer Luckey; David Spirk, former chief data officer at the Department of War, is CEO. Warhound plans to biobank DNA from proven dogs, clone them, screen out harmful genetic variants and supply Anduril hardware including body armor and its Eagle Eye system. Lamm expects first deliveries in about two years. The company has no signed customers or per-dog price yet, and is weighing a "Canine-as-a-Service" model. More than 80% of U.S. military working dogs are bought from Europe, and fewer than half of purchased dogs pass the roughly three-year acquisition and training pipeline, according to the company. Luckey holds no equity, Lamm said.