Hermeus valued at $1B after closing $350M in financing round

Hermeus has announced it has closed its Series C financing with $350 million. Its total capital raised is now over $500 million, reaching a $1 billion post-money valuation. The funding will be used to shift from prototypes to mission-ready, high-Mach platforms. The company states that with the successful first flight of the Quarterhorse Mk 2.1, supersonic flight is now imminent. Hermeus' end goal is to unlock sustained ramjet-powered flight for the U.S. within this decade and is now scaling to a fleet of three F-16-scale aircraft. It states that this move will accelerate its progress to Mach 3 flight and begin customer payload integration. "Speed is life for us," said AJ Piplica, Hermeus founder and CEO. "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." Hermeus' Quarterhorse program follows a development roadmap where multiple are designed, built and flown in quick succession, with each increasing in speed and performance based on data from the previous. The Mk 2.1 performed its first flight on March 3. The flight was the company's second first flight in less than a year. It completed the first flight of the Mk 1 in May 2025, which Hermeus claims validated the company's development approach. The Mk 2.1 is roughly the size of an F-16 and is significantly faster than its predecessor. The company states that it is one of the largest unmanned aircraft ever built. The Mk 2.1 was flown remotely from Hermeus' ground-based flight deck, which validates its aircraft systems, handling qualities and operational procedures. It will be followed by the Mk 2.2, which the company expects to become the world's fastest unmanned aircraft. To expand its prototyping footprint and properly reach the necessary milestones, Hermeus is opening a new headquarters in El Segundo, California. Its Atlanta facility will shift focus to production. RELATED STORIES: Hermeus Quarterhorse receives Special Airworthiness Certificate from FAA Hermeus completes first flight of latest supersonic Quarterhorse aircraft Hermeus Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 arrives at Spaceport America in New Mexico The Series C financing round was led by Khosla Ventures, with continued support from Canaan Partners, Founders Fund, RTX Ventures, Bling Capital and In-Q-Tel. Joining as new investors are Cox Enterprises and its venture fund Socium Ventures, Destiny Tech100, Georgia Tech Foundation, 137 Ventures, GSBackers, among others. Debt capital is being provided by Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank, Pinegrove Venture Partners, Hercules Capital, and Trinity Capital. "We've been believers in Hermeus from the start, and we couldn't be happier to lead this Series C," said Khosla Ventures founder Vinod Khosla. "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." "We've had a front-row seat to watch this team execute at the pace and precision this mission demands," said Andrew Davis, managing partner of Socium Ventures. "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."