Hermeus, a Los Angeles aerospace upstart, just secured a monumental $350 million in fresh capital, pushing its valuation over the $1 billion threshold. The company claims ambitious ground: building the world’s fastest unmanned plane—a gamble attracting the attention and wallets of Silicon Valley and beyond.
The new round wasn’t your typical fare. Leading the $200 million equity component was Khosla Ventures, with veteran backers like Canaan Partners, Founders Fund, In-Q-Tel, and RTX Ventures coming on again for the ride. On top of that, newcomers such as Cox Enterprises’ investment branch and Destiny Tech100 pitched in. Debt financing, accounting for the remaining $150 million, complements the package—something CEO and co-founder AJ Piplica says is crucial for keeping Hermeus and its early investors at the steering wheel.
“We’re a hardware-heavy shop, rapidly growing our manufacturing engine,” Piplica explained in an interview. “If we can fund a big chunk of that without slicing up ownership, why wouldn’t we?” His words land with the confidence of someone steering his company through turbulent but opportunity-laden skies.
Hermeus’ haul comes at a time when defense investments are, frankly, soaring. Last year, venture capital funneled over $9 billion into global defense startups across more than 260 rounds, according to PitchBook. A not-insignificant $2 billion came from corporate hands. The appetite for next-gen military tech is ravenous—and Hermeus has found itself at the feast.
Yet, according to Piplica, luck isn’t the whole story. Some hard pivots on the engineering front changed Hermeus’ fate. Early on, development efforts went toward inventing a homegrown engine—driven, as Piplica says, more by lack of ready options than by grand design. The calculus shifted after courting RTX Ventures, the venture arm of the defense giant formerly known as Raytheon. Instead of reinventing the wheel, Hermeus would collaborate with Pratt & Whitney, an RTX subsidiary, adapting the tried-and-true F100 engine to power their hypersonic craft.
This strategic turn unlocked faster progress. Using a proven engine meant less crawling in the dark—fewer unknowns, more rapid testing, and crucially, contracts with the U.S. government came within reach ahead of schedule. “We’re not swinging for one big leap to Mach 5. Now we’re able to branch out, meet near-term demand from the Department of Defense, and strengthen the business,” said company president Zach Shore. “It’s not just about going faster in the air—it’s about overlapping needs: business viability, customer trust, and technical maturity all reinforcing each other.”
A few weeks back, Hermeus flew a prototype demonstrator about the size of an F-16 fighter. Their stated goal: the next model will punch through the sound barrier, supersonic and, if all goes to plan, a step closer to hypersonic speeds. A third aircraft model is in development, signaling momentum rare in aviation.
Rapid prototyping isn’t exactly part of the aviation industry’s DNA. Piplica namechecks SpaceX as the trailblazer here—build, crash, rebuild, learn, repeat. It’s a culture he wants for Hermeus, but he’s candid about the challenge. “No one out there is pumping out new, full-scale planes each year. That generation is gone. Now we have to cultivate and train the talent needed to do just that,” he said.
The windfall also means growth—not just in technology, but in headcount. Hermeus’ ranks are swelling, nearly 300 strong, and with more hiring ahead.
Two successful test flights have been logged, the first on a scaled-down model last year. But Piplica is clear-eyed: in this game, failure isn’t just probable, it’s part of the recipe. “It’s about learning to manage the right kinds of risk, both technically and financially,” he observed. “Will we crash a plane? I expect we will at some point. Our job is to make sure it happens safely. That’s why building several airframes, not just one, is so important. If you only build a few, fear of failure slows you down, stretching timelines out for decades.”
One note of precision: although “autonomous” was once used to describe its aircraft, Hermeus’ vehicles are, in fact, unmanned—remotely operated, not self-piloting.
The stakes are high, the vision higher. Hermeus is betting on agility and swift iteration to rewrite how flying machines are made. For now, they’re putting the money—and their aircraft—where their mouth is.
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Written by Sean O’Kane, who has spent a decade shadowing pioneers and upstarts in transport and tech—from the audacity of Tesla to the rise-and-fall drama of EV SPACs. Formerly at Bloomberg and The Verge, you could also catch him white-knuckling through an air race cockpit or behind a camera shooting the bleeding edge.
Contact: sean.okane@techcrunch.com (or okane.01 on Signal for the encrypted whispers).
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