War Unicorn Hermeus Raises $350 Million For Unmanned Supersonic Fighter Jets
Atlanta-based aerospace startup Hermeus Corp. has secured $350 million in a funding round that values the builder of uncrewed supersonic and hypersonic fighters at north of $1 billion, according to a Bloomberg report.
Today we’re announcing a $350 million Series C financing led by @khoslaventures, bringing us to a $1B valuation.
— Hermeus (@hermeuscorp) April 7, 2026
Our mission is straightforward: build today’s fastest aircraft for the American Warfighter. The concept is simple but the task is monumental.
We still have so much… pic.twitter.com/60YSZ3Qpxh
Bloomberg reports that the company will use the proceeds from the latest funding round to build two more supersonic jets, called "Quarterhorse," and to expand manufacturing as it works on an uncrewed aircraft designed to fly at Mach 3 or faster.
Meet Quarterhorse Mk 2.1: an F-16-sized jet built to break the sound barrier.
— Hermeus (@hermeuscorp) February 24, 2026
It’s the first of three jets in the Mk 2 lineup. Instead of waiting years between tests, we build and fly them in rapid succession. Real data from one flight feeds directly into the next, letting us… pic.twitter.com/g6qA07QbrS
The company is also working on a hypersonic uncrewed jet called "Darkhorse."
DARKHORSE: Radically Accelerate Air Power
— Hermeus (@hermeuscorp) January 18, 2024
Hypersonic aircraft represent a major step change in defense capabilities, bringing unprecedented responsiveness and survivability to the United States and our allied partners.
[ Video: Artist’s Conception ] pic.twitter.com/dpY5KSBbC7
The round was led by Khosla Ventures and included investors such as Founders Fund, Canaan Partners, RTX Ventures, and In-Q-Tel. The company says it has now raised more than $500 million in total and is valued at $1 billion.
Hermeus says the aircraft is designed to deliver fighter-jet-level payload capacity in a cheaper, unmanned platform for defense use.
Founded in 2018, Hermeus is part of the rising class of startups in the defense space that we have called "war unicorns," as the Department of War resets the procurement process and focuses on funding a new era of defense startups rather than bloated legacy defense primes that are highly skilled at squandering taxpayer funds.
Vinod Khosla, the founder of Khosla Ventures, told the outlet, "The US is very far behind anything in Russia or China on hypersonic flight and weapons. So it becomes imperative that we have a strategy, and that's what Hermeus is doing."
Hermeus is trying to close the gap in hypersonic aviation as the US remains behind Russia and China. The US is still in the testing phase of hypersonic weapons, while Russia and China have already fielded such weapons.