Warhound has raised $200 million at a $1.2 billion valuation to build genetically engineered working dogs for the military, police and emergency teams, TechCrunch reports.
Sequoia, 8VC, Corner Ventures and In-Q-Tel, the venture firm backed by US intelligence agencies, are the investors named. The company comes from Ben Lamm of Colossal Biosciences, which holds equity and licenses its technology to Warhound. Palmer Luckey of Anduril is a partner, though Lamm says he owns no equity.
The plan starts with cell lines from Belgian Malinois and German Shepherd dogs, stored in a biobank and edited to improve performance and health. Lamm points to a supply problem: more than 80 percent of US military working dogs come from Europe, and fewer than half are fit for service.
Anduril’s role is hardware and software, such as protective vests and goggles with sensors that give handlers situational awareness.
The first dogs are about to be cloned by Viagen, another Colossal company, with births expected early next year. Lamm wants them in service within two years. Pricing has not been set.
Lamm says the company has briefed many government groups and is working with the American Humane Society on training certification and retirement placement. On civilian safety, he said only that each dog will be trained like any military working dog and managed by its buyer.
So the valuation rests on animals that have not been born, edits that have not been specified and a price nobody has set. The whole timeline depends on cloning and births going to plan.
