The verified answer
As of Oct 2026, DEPLOY verifies Hermeus: 1 model, $450.0M raised. 1 source back the record.
CategoryDrones
Overview
Defense aviation startup building unmanned hypersonic aircraft (Mach 5+). Founded 2018 by AJ Piplica, Zach Shore, and Glenn Case. Quarterhorse Mk 1 flew at Edwards AFB, Mk 2 in flight testing. $350M Series C at $1B valuation (April 2026), led by Khosla ventures. DIU contract $219M total ceiling. FAA special airworthiness certificate granted.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- None on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
Key facts
Fundingsee investors →
Founded
Lead Investor
Engine Partner
Founders
Total fundingsee investors →
Series C lead
Product
DIU contract
FAA
Speed target
Data & sources
News coverage
1
1 source backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Hermeus on the deployment map
View the global mapHermeus has no verified deployments on the DEPLOY registry yet. Explore the deployment map by place and type.
No verified deployments for Hermeus on the DEPLOY record yet. Track Hermeus to know the moment the first one is verified.
Relationships
Current leadership (2)
- AJ Piplica CEO & Co-founderreported, not verified
- Zach Shore Chief Executive Officersecondary-verified
Founders (1)
- AJ Piplicacofounder
Safety record
No incidents on record for Hermeus.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Recent coverage
Hermeus in third-party press
Peers
56 peers across 1 segment. Every Hermeus competitor derived from shared form-factor and application-domain edges.
space(56)
36 companies in this segment · low_concentration (HHI 1188.742650389188) · leader K2 Space at 2172%
- Aetherfluxdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Agile Space Industriesdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Airbusdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Albedo Spacedirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Astrobotic Technologydirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Astroscaledirect competitor(inferred)moderate
Mentioned on (6)
Registry pages whose text names Hermeus.
Companies (2)
Robots and products (1)
People (3)
Financial state
- Total funding
- $450.0M
- Employees
- 500
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Funding rounds (2)
Hermeus’s 2 disclosed rounds, $450M in total, oldest to newest.
- Series C2026-04-07
$350M(reported)
Investors: Canaan Partners (follow), Founders Fund (follow), Khosla Ventures (lead), RTX Ventures (follow), Bling Capital (follow), Cox Enterprises (follow), Socium Ventures (follow), In-Q-Tel (follow)
- Series B2022-03-10
$100M(reported)
Timeline
Every recorded move in Hermeus’s history, most recent first: funding rounds, partnerships, acquisitions, supply-chain starts, key hires, and press.
Funding roundSeries C funding round
2026-04-07Series C raising $350000000
Funding roundSeries B funding round
2022-03-10Series B raising $100000000
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Record createdJul 25, 2026
Added to the verified registry
Sources (1)
Common questions
What is Hermeus?
What does Hermeus make?
Is Hermeus publicly traded?
Who competes with Hermeus?
Who is the CEO of Hermeus?
How can I invest in Hermeus?
How much funding has Hermeus raised?
Who owns Hermeus?
Where does Hermeus operate robots?
Is Hermeus a top robotics company?
When was Hermeus founded?
Is Hermeus safe?
Methodology: Verified · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-10-10
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-10-10
Sources by quality tier
- 1
- secondary-industry-publication
- Industry publication
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Hermeus.Peer companies
- Amazon25 models
- DJI9 models
- Anduril Industries7 models
- Skydio6 models
- Autel Robotics4 models
- Baykar4 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Hermeus from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
EXCLUSIVE: Pratt licenses Hermeus to build F100 fighter jet engine
Hermeus CEO Zach Shore told Breaking Defense the company can now vertically integrate production of its Quarterhorse drone and serve as a second source of engines for Pratt’s…
Hermeus reveals air-launched expendable hypersonic testbed Ramjet-X
The California company will launch its low-cost Ramjet-X vehicle in mid-air from its reusable Quarterhorse aircraft for high-Mach testing Continue reading Hermeus reveals…
Hermeus and Anduril Are Racing to Build Autonomous High-Speed Aircraft
Hermeus picks Anduril autonomy for Quarterhorse drone
In an exclusive interview with Breaking Defense, executives from both firms described a mutually beneficial arrangement.
Hermeus Reaches $1 Billion Valuation with $350 Million Raise
$350M raise ($200M equity + $150M debt) at $1B valuation. Khosla Ventures led, with Founders Fund, Canaan Partners, In-Q-Tel, RTX Ventures, Cox Enterprises.
Hermeus Flies Quarterhorse Mk 1 at Edwards Air Force Base
Quarterhorse Mk 1 first flight at Edwards AFB. Second first flight in less than a year (Mk 2 also flew).
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/hermeus.md
- RSS feed: /companies/hermeus/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/eb49f21e-06ad-499f-9fa8-1a4ff49aed9d
- Revision history: /companies/hermeus/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Amazon25 models
- DJI9 models
- Anduril Industries7 models
- Skydio6 models
- Autel Robotics4 models
- Baykar4 models
Video
In this episode we’re thrilled to host Ana Kraft, CEO of Xena Workwear! Ana joins three leaders at Hermeus to discuss career advice, role models, entrepreneursh
Heat Index
Category contender75/100
A composite of competitive footprint, funding, press velocity, active partnerships, and supply-chain edges. Different from the Intelligence score below (which is per-form-factor productization). Non-robotics companies cap at 25.
Reality vs attention
Hermeus draws attention at the 55th percentile but verifies reality at the insufficient-data level among aerial robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Well-capitalized with $450M raised and recent funding activity. Limited public visibility and press coverage relative to peers.
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Oct 22, 2026