Defense technology startup Mach Industries raises $100M

Mach Industries Inc., a startup that makes hardware systems for the defense sector, has raised $100 million in funding.

The company announced the Series B investment today. Khosla Ventures and Bedrock led the raise with participation from several other backers including Sequoia Capital. According to TechCrunch, Mach Industries is now worth $470 million.

Huntington Beach, California-based Mach Industries currently offers three systems for the defense sector. The first is a jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, called Viper that can take off and land vertically. That means it doesn’t require a runway to operate. Mach Industries also offers two other UAVs, dubbed Glide and Stratos, that are designed to operate at high altitudes.

The company will use a 115,000-square-foot factory in Huntington Beach to make its equipment. Before a plant starts mass producing a product, engineers usually have to spend a significant amount of time configuring production lines. Mach Industries’ facility, in contrast, is built to be “rapidly retoolable to new designs.” That allows the company to quickly change what hardware is made at the plant. 

Mach Industries says that its factory is optimized to make “all components” of unmanned aircraft. The plant will produce not only the company’s own systems but also partner-developed hardware. Earlier this year, Mach Industries partnered with UAV maker Heven Drones to manufacture the latter company’s hydrogen-powered aircraft. 

It will start building a second manufacturing hub later this year. The facility, which will be operated by a new subsidiary called Mach Propulsion, is set to supply jet engines for UAVs and other systems. It expects to produce 12,000 engines annually.

According to Mach Industries, some of the factory’s capacity will be dedicated to making microturbines. Those are small, efficient gas turbines that lend themselves to powering drones. They can also be found in data center cooling equipment, certain hybrid vehicles and other systems.

Mach Industries stated that the funding round announced today will enable it to grow its manufacturing operations faster. As part of the initiative, the company plans to deploy production capacity closer to customers in order to boost efficiency. In parallel, it reportedly plans to expand its product portfolio with several new systems including a propulsion engine.

The funding round marks the latest in a series of high-profile investments closed by defense technology companies. Flying taxi builder Archer Aviation Inc., which is developing a version of its aircraft for the defense sector, raised $850 million last week. A few days earlier, Anduril Industries Inc. closed a $2.5 billion funding round at a $30.5 billion valuation.

Photo: Mach Industries