Propulsion Engineering Technician

Mach Industries raises $300M Series C at $1.8B valuation, cementing its place in defense tech's new guard. Mach Industries, the Huntington Beach-based defense technology startup, has closed a $300 million Series C round at a $1.8 billion valuation nearly quadrupling its valuation in under a year. The round was led by deep tech fund Infinite Capital and Ribbit Capital, with participation from Bedrock Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Khosla Ventures. The raise is a striking signal of investor conviction in the autonomous weapons and drone defense sector. Just twelve months ago, the company closed its Series B at a $470 million valuation. The new round was originally targeted at $200 million but was heavily oversubscribed, prompting the company to upsize to $300 million and still close oversubscribed. "We went out to raise $200 million and we were extremely oversubscribed at $200 and happy with the price, so we decided to push up to $300," said founder and CEO Ethan Thornton. "We're still oversubscribed at the $300 mark." Rapid scaling across product, headcount, and infrastructure. In just three years, Mach has grown from a 12-person startup to a 350-person company with a 115,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and design and production operations across multiple locations. By end of 2026, the company expects to have added four new production facilities a pace of infrastructure expansion that is rare for a company at this stage. On the product side, Mach has five autonomous vehicles in active development: * Viper - a jet-powered vertical takeoff vehicle * Glide - a high-altitude glider capable of launching weapons * Stratos - an airborne surveillance platform * Dart - a low-cost counter-drone interceptor * Pike - intended for launching long-range munitions Production is expected to begin on at least three of these systems before year-end, giving the company near-term revenue visibility across both government and commercial channels. DoD contract and a sixth vehicle. This week, Mach announced it had won a contract from the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to develop a new "runway-independent strike aircraft" for the U.S. Navy a sixth vehicle the company had not previously disclosed publicly. Thornton described it as a large aircraft with potential commercial applications beyond the defense sector. The award underscores Mach's growing credibility with the Department of Defense and its ability to win contracts in a competitive defense procurement environment dominated historically by legacy prime contractors. Vertical integration through the Exquadrum acquisition. A major driver of investor enthusiasm was Mach's acquisition last month of solid rocket motor (SRM) startup Exquadrum in a $50 million cash-and-equity deal beating out more than eight competing buyers. The move was strategically significant: SRMs are in acute shortage as drone demand has surged, with lead times for purchasing from the two dominant suppliers Aerojet Rocketdyne and Northrop Grumman stretching years. By acquiring Exquadrum, Mach now controls its own rocket motor supply chain and has launched a new commercial business, Mach Energetics, to sell engines to other companies. The current revenue mix is approximately 50/50 between government and commercial customers. Defense tech: the other hot sector alongside AI. Investor interest in defense technology has accelerated significantly as autonomous weapons and drone defense systems have demonstrated real-world effectiveness on the battlefield in Ukraine. For venture-backed firms, the thesis is straightforward: bring faster and more affordable products to the military than the expensive, long-cycle offerings of legacy prime contractors. Mach is a compelling case study in that thesis. Thornton noted that building a jet engine traditionally takes approximately four years with established teams. Mach went from founding a team to a jet engine firing in roughly eight months. "That is, after all, the entire reason for his company and for the defense tech industry," Thornton said of the speed advantage. Unlock new opportunities with FNEX Pre-IPO market. FNEX is a global leader in pre-IPO stock transactions for institutional investors. Its marketplace aggregates bids and offers on late-stage private stocks, with a focus on sectors driving the next generation of value, including artificial intelligence, data infrastructure, and fintech. Institutional participants gain access to exclusive trade data, proprietary pricing metrics, and structured liquidity events designed for precision and privacy. Contact FNEX today to buy or sell pre-IPO stocks like Kalshi stocks, Kraken stocks, Space X stocks and Mach Industries Stocks. 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Release Date June 2, 2026 Whisper Aero reveals 'stall-proof wing,' Mach Industries partnership. When Tennessee-based Whisper Aero unveiled its electric ducted fan technology in 2023, the emphasis was on its extremely low noise - the reason for the company's name. Whisper's unique high-blade-count fan design pushes the blade passage frequency into the ultrasonic range, where the resulting tonal noise is inaudible to humans. The potential applications for the tech range from leaf blowers to regional aircraft; essentially anywhere there is value in moving air quietly. At the time of the unveil, Whisper also revealed the design for a notional Whisper Jet, an example of how its technology could be integrated into an aircraft using a "JetFoil" array of ducted fans along a wing's leading edge. Besides low noise, Whisper said the JetFoil design would provide extremely high lift by virtue of blowing air across the upper surface of the wing, along with very low drag thanks to its smooth integration with the wing and clean exhaust air flow. In 2023, however, these benefits were still largely theoretical. Whisper co-founders Mark Moore and Ian Villa haven't said much about the JetFoil in the three years since, but their team has been busy behind the scenes developing the technology and testing it in the lab. Now, they're finally ready to share some of the results as Moore receives the F.E. Newbold V/STOL Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). In an interview with The Air Current ahead of their reveal at SAE International's AeroTech conference in West Palm Beach, Florida on June 2, Moore and Villa claimed the JetFoil is proving to be even more revolutionary than they originally suggested, with properties that could enable otherwise conventional airplanes to approach the capabilities of vertical take-off and landing aircraft. Whisper is now partnering with California-based startup Mach Industries to develop this "near-VTOL" capability for the Defense Innovation Unit Runway Independent Maritime & Expeditionary Strike (RIMES) program, which seeks drones that can carry fighter-class munitions from destroyers and other warships that lack large flight decks. "We've never been able to get the wing to stall - this is a stall-proof wing," said Moore, explaining how the JetFoil design delivers near-constant lift even as airspeed approaches zero. "Even as you're flying at crazy low speeds, you cannot stall the wing, which is an incredible safety feature." Our award-winning aerospace reporting combines the highest standards of journalism with the level of technical detail and rigor expected by a sophisticated industry audience. * Exclusive reporting and analysis on the strategy and technology of flying * Full access to our archive of industry intelligence * We respect your time; everything we publish earns your attention

Mach Industries, a defence startup producing autonomous aircraft and strike systems, has reached a $1.8 billion valuation in its latest funding round. The company plans to use the capital to scale up production of military equipment for the Pentagon and allied forces.