Hadrian Automation Inc., a Torrance-based manufacturing firm, announced in mid-July it raised $260 million to build factories in the U.S. powered by artificial intelligence.
The series C financing round was led by repeat investors Founders Fund and Lux Capital, with an additional loan facility by Morgan Stanley to expand its factories.
Hadrian’s AI-powered factories are meant to touch every part of the advanced manufacturing stack, from handling raw materials to assembling the final product, allowing it to work with the likes of the aerospace and military sectors. The company’s so-called Factories-as-a-Service model allows the wartime sector to scale manufacturing.
“America cannot afford to lose another generation of industrial capacity,” Chris Power, the founder and chief executive of Hadrian, said in a statement. “We’re building the factories that will secure American leadership in advanced manufacturing and create new jobs here in the United States. China is making massive bets on industrial dominance. The United States needs to respond not just with policy, but with production. That’s what Hadrian is here to do.”
The company is named after Hadrian, a Roman emperor known for reinforcing his empire’s borders rather than expanding them. Hadrian, the company, is doing something similar by riding a wave of federal sentiment that is concerned with bringing manufacturing back to the U.S.
Amid geopolitical tension and supply chain instability, former President Joe Biden introduced a slew of legislation like the CHIPS and Science Act to lessen the country’s reliance on perceived foreign adversaries like China.
The private sector has mobilized in droves to tackle the issue, including the startup and venture sector, which for a long time almost exclusively concerned itself with software like cloud computing and software-as-a-service, rather than hardware.
Autonomous machinery
Gardena-based GrayMatter Robotics, for example, raised $24 million in June to manufacture robots that can supplement certain parts of the manufacturing supply chain, like cosmetic finishing.
The U.S. private sector is leading the way on autonomous machine funding, according to PitchBook. So far in 2025, U.S.-based companies made up 62% of all venture funding in the sector. In 2024, the U.S. was responsible for 25% of all funding in autonomous machines.
The rising popularity of autonomous machines also speaks to another issue plaguing the manufacturing sector. Despite many legislative calls to boost domestic manufacturing, the industry is struggling with a dwindling workforce and low rates of retention caused in part by low pay and poor working conditions. The Manufacturing Institute estimates the lack of a workforce may cost the sector as much as $1 billion by 2030.
Hadrian’s Factory-as-a-Service model is a far cry from traditional factories. Instead of giant warehouses filled with machines, Hadrian’s factories operate much like a big computer, with every system speaking to the other to complete manufacturing processes autonomously.
Hadrian is opening a new production facility in Mesa, Arizona, that will span 270,000 square feet and cost $200 million. The site is expected to be open by January.
“This significant investment will bring hundreds of high-quality jobs to Mesa residents, strengthen our local economy and reinforce our position as a critical hub in America’s manufacturing resurgence,” Mesa Vice Mayor Scott Somers said in a statement.
