Hermeus Hits $1B Valuation on Defense Bet

Hermeus just raised $350M Series C, hitting $1B valuation. Total capital: $566M.

What they're building:
• Unmanned hypersonic aircraft (Mach 3 target)
• Turbine-based combined cycle engines
• F-16-scale platforms for defense payloads

How they got here:
• Founded 2018, bootstrapped early iterations
• First subsonic flight (May 2025) → Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 success
• Khosla Ventures led; RTX Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Founders Fund backed
• Shifted from prototyping to scaled manufacturing (new HQ: El Segundo)

Why it matters:
Speed wins in defense. Hermeus compressed 5-10 year aerospace timelines to 18 months. Founders: if you're building hardware, this is the playbook—rapid iteration, clear customer (DoD), capital efficiency.

https://parsers.vc/news/260412-hermeus-secures-350-million--accelerates/

#DefenseTech #HardwareStartups