Mach Industries raises $300M at $1.8B valuation
Original: Defense tech darling Mach Industries hits $1.8B valuation, a 4x jump in a year
Why This Matters
Defense tech sector attracts major VC investment amid autonomous weapons demand
Defense tech startup Mach Industries raised $300M Series C at $1.8B valuation, quadrupling from $470M in 2025. 22-year-old CEO Ethan Thornton's company develops autonomous weapons and has five vehicles in development.
Three-year-old defense tech startup Mach Industries, led by 22-year-old founder Ethan Thornton, raised $300 million Series C at $1.8 billion valuation. The round was led by Infinite Capital and Ribbit Capital, with participation from Bedrock Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Khosla Ventures. This nearly quadruples the company's $470 million valuation from June 2025. The Huntington Beach company has five autonomous vehicles in development: Viper, Glide, Stratos, Dart, and Pike. Production begins next year on three systems. This week, Mach won a Department of Defense contract for a sixth vehicle, described as the Navy's runway-independent strike aircraft. The company grew from 12 employees to 350, operates a 115,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, and plans four new production facilities by year-end 2026.