Defense tech startup Mach industries is about to close a $100 million financing round, a source told TechCrunch. This funding has been co-led by new investor Khosla and existing investor Bedrock Capital. This round would value the company at $470 million.
Khosla Ventures, like Andreessen Horowitz, 8VC and Founders Fund has been increasingly making bets on national security and space companies, including funding rounds for Varda, which does materials testing in space, and hypersonic aircraft startup Hermeus.
Mach is developing vertical liftoff vehicles and weapons that can work from the edge of space. It is also developing smaller factories that can be easily built and distributed when more production is needed.
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Mach Industries was founded by 21-year-old Ethan Thornton who was just a teenager when he dropped out of MIT to found the company. It received funding from investors Sequoia and Bedrock, who poured in more than $80 million into the startup. However, Mach Industries also ran into various problems including an incident where an employee was sent to hospital covered in shrapnel after a hydrogen-powered gun exploded. The company has since pivoted to building a conventional strike drone that it calls Viper, in addition to an aerial glider and a balloon that carries communications equipment.
Thornton also had to respond to scrutiny over a Chinese-made jet engine featured in a promotional video of Mach’s drones. He responded to this by stating that while Mach used Chinese components in testing, its drones aren’t sold with them.
In March, Mach announced that it was selected by the Army Applications Laboratory to develop a vertical takeoff precision cruise missile it calls “Strategic Strike.” It also announced plans for its first factory, a 115,000-square foot-facility in Huntington Beach, California.
This new funding should bring the startup’s total funding to about $185 million to date. Sequoia led Mach’s $5.7 million seed round, which was announced in June 2023. Geoff Lewis, founder of Bedrock Capital, led Mach’s $79 million Series A round a few months later.