Lux Capital Raises $1.5 billion for Its Largest Ever Fund

Venture firm Lux Capital raised $1.5 billion for its ninth fund — the largest in its more than 20-year history — with plans to back more companies that focus on fields like breakthrough science and national security.

The oversubscribed fund comes at a time of increased collaboration between Silicon Valley and Washington on areas including artificial intelligence, quantum computing and nuclear energy, deemed essential to the national interest.

Lux has been investing in many of these companies for years. The firm wrote some of the first checks into startups including weapons maker Anduril Industries Inc., robotic maritime drone company Saildrone Inc. and satellite ...