Layup Parts, a composites startup with Anduril and defense ties, raises $42M Series A

Layup Parts announced a $42 million Series A funding round on Tuesday led by Marlinspike, with participation from Cerberus Ventures, Pinegrove Venture Partners, Founders Fund, and Lux Capital. The round follows a $9 million seed round raised two years earlier. The Huntington Beach, California company now employs about 60 people.

Zack Eakin, co-founder of Layup Parts, left Anduril in 2024 to start the company after Palmer Luckey, Brian Schimpf, and Matt Grimm provided feedback on his pitch. Eakin had joined Anduril in 2021 to work on composites. Eakin began his career at Chip Ganassi Racing working on carbon-fiber structures and bodywork for IndyCar and the DeltaWing prototype.

He became the first engineer at Elon Musk’s Boring Company in 2017 before returning to composites work. Layup Parts will use most of the new funding to grow its team and move into a bigger facility this year, Eakin said. The company previously used seed capital for capital expenditures.

The startup aims to make ordering custom carbon-fiber or fiberglass parts as straightforward as purchasing items online. It has already reduced the time between receiving customer data and manufacturing a part from weeks to hours in some cases. In its first two years, Layup Parts has produced parts for motorsports teams, design studios making show cars, and pickleball paddle companies.

Aerospace and defense now form its largest business lines, serving both startups and traditional defense contractors. Eakin said composites have been harder to automate than other manufacturing processes because more manual steps remain involved. He added that consolidation among composite firms has reduced incentives for innovation.

Marlinspike already holds investments in Anduril and other defense-focused manufacturing companies. Cerberus Ventures was founded in 2023 by Chris Darby, who previously led the CIA-backed firm In-Q-Tel for nearly 20 years. Eakin said skills from his time at The Boring Company, including first-principles engineering and a high sense of urgency, continue to shape how Layup Parts operates.