Hermeus company profile: valuation, funding & revenue

This Hermeus company profile covers the company's valuation, revenue, funding rounds, investors and history. Hermeus works in defense and aerospace, with a focus on hypersonic aircraft. It was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its latest valuation on record is About US$1 billion (April 2026). Every figure links to a public source, and anything the company hasn't disclosed is marked as such.

Revenue

Funding history

Hermeus timeline

Key dates from the sources on this page, oldest first. Metric snapshots are listed after the funding events.

• 2018 — Hermeus is founded in Los Angeles by AJ Piplica (CEO), Skyler Shuford, Glenn Case and Mike Smayda.
• Apr 2026 — Equity and debt: US$350M (US$200M equity, US$150M debt), valuing the company at About US$1B. Investors: Khosla Ventures (equity lead); Canaan Partners, Founders Fund, In-Q-Tel, RTX Ventures; Cox Enterprises' venture fund, Destiny Tech100.
• April 2026 — Team: About 300 employees.

Investors

Overview

Hermeus is developing aircraft that fly at hypersonic speeds, Mach 5 and above, or more than five times the speed of sound. Its near-term focus is uncrewed, autonomous aircraft for defense, which could perform reconnaissance or other missions faster and at higher altitudes than existing aircraft, with a long-term goal of hypersonic passenger travel. The company builds a series of increasingly capable demonstrators called Quarterhorse, testing each quickly and learning from flights. In April 2026 it raised US$350 million, including US$200 million of equity led by Khosla Ventures, at a valuation of about US$1 billion.

AJ Piplica, the CEO, co-founded Hermeus in 2018 with Skyler Shuford, Glenn Case and Mike Smayda. The founders previously worked together at Generation Orbit, an aerospace company that developed hypersonic test vehicles. Hermeus' core technical approach combines a standard jet engine with a ramjet in a "turbine-based combined cycle" system, allowing an aircraft to take off from a normal runway and accelerate to hypersonic speeds.

Products and programmes

• Quarterhorse demonstrators: a series of uncrewed aircraft to test high-speed flight, starting with lower speeds and progressing towards hypersonic flight.
• Chimera engine: its turbine-based combined cycle propulsion system, built around a modified Pratt & Whitney F100 engine.
• Darkhorse: a planned autonomous hypersonic aircraft for defense missions.
• Halcyon: a long-term concept for a hypersonic passenger aircraft.

Funding

Hermeus raised funding from investors including Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, Canaan Partners, In-Q-Tel and RTX Ventures, and won US Air Force contracts. In April 2026 it announced US$350 million: US$200 million in equity led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from existing investors Canaan, Founders Fund, In-Q-Tel and RTX Ventures and new investors including Cox Enterprises' venture fund and Destiny Tech100, plus US$150 million of debt. The round valued it at about US$1 billion. CEO AJ Piplica said the debt helps fund hardware development without excessive dilution. Reports put total funding at more than US$500 million.

Business model

Hermeus earns revenue mainly from government contracts for development, testing and potentially production of hypersonic aircraft, and it may eventually sell aircraft or services to the military. Commercial passenger travel is a much longer-term opportunity. Like other defense hardware startups, it invests heavily before large production contracts, so funding, testing milestones and government budgets are critical.

Competition

Hermeus competes with traditional aerospace companies such as Lockheed Martin (with its Skunk Works), Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon; with hypersonic startups such as Stratolaunch, Venus Aerospace and Castelion; and with defense technology firms such as Anduril. Its approach of rapid, iterative flight testing aims to move faster than traditional programmes.

Hermeus at a glance

Hermeus is a hypersonic aircraft company founded in 2018 by AJ Piplica, Skyler Shuford, Glenn Case and Mike Smayda, based in Los Angeles. It is building autonomous aircraft designed to fly at Mach 5+, using a modified Pratt & Whitney engine. It raised US$350 million in April 2026, including US$200 million equity led by Khosla Ventures, at about US$1 billion.

Timeline

• 2018: founded.
• 2019–2021: tests its propulsion concept and wins Air Force contracts.
• 2022–2025: builds Quarterhorse demonstrators.
• 2025: first Quarterhorse flight.
• March 2026: a larger demonstrator, about the size of an F-16, flies.
• April 2026: raises US$350 million at about US$1 billion.

Why hypersonics matter to defense

Hypersonic vehicles are difficult to detect and intercept because of their speed and altitude, which is why the US, China and Russia have invested heavily in hypersonic weapons. Reusable hypersonic aircraft could also gather intelligence or deliver payloads quickly over long distances. The US has accelerated hypersonic programmes in response to advances by competitors, creating funding opportunities for startups that can test and iterate faster than traditional programmes.

Iterative hardware development

Hermeus borrows a philosophy from SpaceX: build, fly, learn and improve quickly, rather than spending a decade designing one perfect aircraft. Each Quarterhorse version tests specific technologies and flight regimes. This approach accepts that some tests will fail but aims to reduce overall development time and cost. Its success depends on the ability to manufacture and test aircraft rapidly.

Who works with Hermeus

Hermeus' main customers are the US Air Force and other defense agencies, with partners such as Pratt & Whitney for engines.

Valuation context

Hermeus joined a growing group of defense hardware unicorns in 2026. Our guide to defense tech startups compares related companies.

Risks

• Technical difficulty: hypersonic flight involves extreme heat and engineering challenges.
• Funding needs: aircraft development is expensive.
• Government dependence: contracts and budgets drive revenue.
• Competition: large primes have deep experience and resources.

Questions for observers

• When will Quarterhorse reach hypersonic speeds in flight?
• Which defense programmes could buy its aircraft?
• How will debt be repaid from future contracts?

The engineering challenges of Mach 5

At hypersonic speeds, air friction heats an aircraft's surfaces to extreme temperatures, requiring special materials and cooling. Conventional jet engines can't operate efficiently beyond about Mach 2 to 3, so hypersonic aircraft need ramjets or scramjets, which work only at high speed. Hermeus' approach is to combine a jet engine for take-off and lower speeds with a ramjet that takes over as the aircraft accelerates, handing off smoothly between the two. Managing that transition, controlling the aircraft at high speed and landing it again for reuse are all difficult problems that have challenged government programmes for decades. Hermeus' strategy is to tackle them step by step with real flights rather than relying mainly on simulations and ground tests.

Why autonomy matters

Building uncrewed aircraft first removes the need for life-support systems and the extreme safety requirements of carrying pilots, allowing faster testing and accepting more risk. Autonomous high-speed aircraft also match defense interest in uncrewed systems that can operate in contested areas without endangering crews.

Latest developments (October 2026)

Hermeus raised US$350 million in April 2026, made up of US$200 million of equity led by Khosla Ventures and US$150 million of debt, at a valuation of about US$1 billion, according to Bloomberg Law and The Next Web. Cox Enterprises' venture fund and Destiny Tech100 joined existing investors including Founders Fund, In-Q-Tel and RTX Ventures. The company said it would build more aircraft; its second demonstrator had recently flown.

What to watch

Watch flight test milestones, defense contracts and further funding.

Takeaways

Defense agencies may gain fast, reusable hypersonic aircraft. Founders can see how rapid iteration applies to aerospace. Investors should weigh technical risk against strategic demand.

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from the public sources below. Where sources disagreed, we used the company's own announcement or a primary news report. Private-company data changes; check the date beside each figure.

1. TechCrunch
2. The Next Web