Hermeus announced it has raised $350 million in a Series C funding round, reaching a $1 billion valuation as it accelerates development of high-Mach unmanned aircraft for national security missions. The financing round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from existing investors including Canaan Partners, Founders Fund, RTX Ventures, Bling Capital, and In-Q-Tel, as well as new investors such as Cox Enterprises and its venture fund Socium Ventures, Destiny Tech100, Georgia Tech Foundation, 137 Ventures, and GSBackers. Additional debt financing was provided by Silicon Valley Bank, Pinegrove Venture Partners, Hercules Capital, and Trinity Capital.
The new capital will support Hermeus’ transition from prototyping to mission-ready aircraft, with a focus on building some of the fastest unmanned platforms currently in development. The company recently completed a successful flight of its Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 aircraft and is now working toward sustained supersonic and eventually Mach 3 flight.
Hermeus is scaling production by expanding its footprint, including opening a new headquarters in El Segundo, California, while shifting its Atlanta facility toward manufacturing. The company plans to build a fleet of three F-16-scale aircraft and begin integrating customer payloads as it advances toward operational deployment.
The company’s approach emphasizes rapid, hardware-first iteration to accelerate timelines from design to deployment, aiming to meet evolving defense requirements with high-speed, scalable systems.
The Series C round includes $200 million in equity and $150 million in debt, bringing Hermeus’ total capital raised to more than $500 million as it positions itself as a key player in next-generation defense aviation.
KEY QUOTES:
“Speed is life for us. This new funding lets us build multiple aircraft at the same time and scale our manufacturing capabilities, adding more hardware richness and robustness to our program. That accelerates our path to ramjet-powered flight. We are grateful for the support of our long-term partners who share our vision of building fast planes fast. Together, we’re bringing scalable, asymmetric capabilities to our national security customers.”
AJ Piplica, Founder And CEO, Hermeus
“We’ve been believers in Hermeus from the start, and we couldn’t be happier to lead this Series C. The team is on a clear trajectory to solve a critical capability gap for their customers by building, flying, and iterating at a pace that matches the modern battlefield.”
Vinod Khosla, Founder, Khosla Ventures
“We’ve had a front-row seat to watch this team execute at the pace and precision this mission demands. This Series C marks an important inflection point for the company. Cox Enterprises and our venture fund, Socium Ventures are proud to support them as they accomplish significant milestones this year.”
Andrew Davis, Managing Partner, Socium Ventures
