Mach Industries, a disruptive defense technology company, was founded in 2023 by 19-year-old Ethan Thornton to provide a better solution for … The company has now completed its $100 million funding round, led by Khosla Ventures and Bedrock Capital. This most recent investment brings the company’s total funding to date up to about $185 million. The latest round has assigned Mach Industries a post-money valuation of $335 million as of October 2023.
Thornton left the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to dedicate himself full time to Mach Industries. Since then, he has continued to push the company’s ambitious vision for the future of transit and mobility forward. During those early years, he explained, the company’s leadership took a hands-on approach to developing the company’s infrastructure.
“Like, we went to Home Depot, bought a bunch of plywood, bought a bunch of 2x4s, and built all the furniture ourselves,” – Ethan Thornton
Mach Industries has developed three advanced weapons systems: Viper, Glide, and Stratos. Each system represents the company’s vision to develop weapons that can hit targets with precision at extreme distances. The Viper is a unique, lightweight, jet-powered UAV. It does have one major difference—it takes off and lands vertically, so it doesn’t need runways. Rather, Glide is an ultra-fast, high-altitude glider plane designed to outrun missile defenses and engage targets from hundreds of miles away at the edge of the atmosphere. As a fully autonomous, in-air satellite outfitted with sensor and communication capabilities, Stratos is unlike anything currently used or built to operate at such extreme altitudes.
That recent funding is a testament to the company’s meteoric rise and growing clout inside the defense establishment. In just twelve months, Mach Industries more than tripled its employee base. It then expanded from 20 to 140 employees in order to address increasing operational needs. Thornton was clear that the company’s work is strategic, noting that the company works deeply and broadly with government partners.
“The work we do is done in direct contact with the State Department, with the Department of Defense, with Congressional members,” – Ethan Thornton
This year’s leading company, Mach Industries, has highly imaginative weapon systems. The Army Applications Laboratory has selected them for further development of their vertical takeoff precision cruise missile. This innovation partnership is a testament to the Blackhorse Group’s commitment to strengthening military technology. Beyond that, it goes hand-in-hand with the foundation’s mission to improve long-range strike capabilities.
Looking ahead to the future, Mach Industries recently broke ground on its first manufacturing facility—a $22 million, 115,000-square-foot plant to be based in Huntington Beach, California. This new factory will help scale production capacity and operations as the company rapidly scales up.
Despite the impressive growth and substantial funding raised, the latest funding round reflects only a modest increase in valuation of $35 million over the past year and a half. The company’s valuation flat pre-money to post money suggests a guarded market reaction given the macroeconomic backdrop.
Mach Industries continues to innovate and grow its national defense technology. It takes its role very seriously as the lead development organization for joint advanced weapon systems that provide long-range precision strike capability. The company’s journey from a startup founded by a young entrepreneur to a significant player in the defense arena marks a noteworthy evolution within the industry.