Castelion – a new defense manufacturer helping America and its allies preserve peace through deterrence with long-range hypersonic strike weapons – announced it has raised $100 million in debt and equity financing. And with rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific, the United States and its allies need a non-nuclear deterrent capability. The company’s affordable and mass-produced hypersonic long-range strike weapons are required to build a decisive combat power advantage and deter future aggression.
The Series A funding round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from a16z, Lavrock Ventures, Cantos, First In, BlueYard Capital, and Interlagos. And the financing includes $30 million in Venture Debt financing provided by Silicon Valley Bank, with final close expected in February. This funding will be used to continue Castelion’s rapid flight test campaign and invest in scaled manufacturing infrastructure for key missile subsystems.
Based in El Segundo, California, and with facilities in Allen and Midland, Texas, Castelion is currently testing prototypes of its first product with long-range flight demonstrations planned throughout 2025. Between November and December of last year, the company tested seven static fires and the team also flew two test flights and launched the company’s new flight computer and control actuation system. Plus, the company has contracts in place with multiple government agencies.
Castelion was originally founded by three former SpaceX employees: Bryon Hargis (CEO), Sean Pitt (COO) and Andrew Kreitz (CFO) in November 2022.
