{"id":"e59415aa-c6f2-4b16-9461-7276b24b9932","slug":"aj-piplica","name":"AJ Piplica","bioBrief":"Aerospace engineer and entrepreneur. Co-founder and Chairman of Hermeus Corporation (founded 2018), an Atlanta-based startup developing Mach 5 hypersonic aircraft. Previously CEO of Generation Orbit, where he led development of the X-60A, a U.S. Air Force hypersonic X-plane. Prior to that, he worked at SpaceWorks on hypersonic, rocket, and advanced orbital system design. Hermeus raised $100 million in its Series B round led by Sam Altman in March 2022, with backing from the U.S. Air Force, Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, and In-Q-Tel.","priorExits":null,"nationality":"American","verificationPosture":"verified","aliases":[],"sources":[{"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermeus","label":"Wikipedia","title":"Hermeus - Wikipedia"},{"url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajpiplica","label":"LinkedIn","title":"AJ Piplica - Founder, Chairman at Hermeus"}],"reviewStatus":"reviewed","createdAt":"2026-07-25T15:28:37.251Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-27T07:44:18.667Z","educations":[],"companyRoles":[{"id":"b43a0f85-c7b2-4b12-bc2b-759fda083fd1","personId":"e59415aa-c6f2-4b16-9461-7276b24b9932","companyId":"eb49f21e-06ad-499f-9fa8-1a4ff49aed9d","role":"ceo","roleTitle":"CEO & Co-founder","startDate":null,"endDate":null,"currentRole":true,"roleBasis":"reported_not_verified","displayOrder":null,"createdAt":"2026-07-25T15:28:38.114Z","company":{"slug":"hermeus","name":"Hermeus"}}],"boardRoles":[],"investorRoles":[],"foundings":[{"id":"1bba74cd-5b96-44ff-a469-1822c5e4d818","personId":"e59415aa-c6f2-4b16-9461-7276b24b9932","companyId":"eb49f21e-06ad-499f-9fa8-1a4ff49aed9d","foundingDate":null,"cofounderStatus":"cofounder","stillAtCompany":true,"createdAt":"2026-08-23T14:33:18.412Z","company":{"slug":"hermeus","name":"Hermeus"}}]}