Hermeus is developing reusable Mach 5 hypersonic aircraft, starting with the uncrewed Quarterhorse testbed (first flight 2025) and the Darkhorse reconnaissance UAV. Long-term goal is the Halcyon passenger jet (NY-London in 90 minutes). Multiple US Air Force contracts including a $60M Quarterhorse contract. Founded by SpaceX, Generation Orbit, and Blue Origin alumni.
Defense & Space📍 Atlanta, GAFounded 2018
Current Valuation
$1.0B
as of 2024-Q4
UNICORN
IPO Outlookprivate
Is Hermeus going public?
No. Hermeus has no imminent IPO plans on record. It is still private.
What is Hermeus' valuation in 2026?
Hermeus is valued at $1.0B as of 2024-Q4, set by its Series C ($100M, Sep 2024). That is the last confirmed mark, not a live price — private shares do not trade continuously.
Has Hermeus filed an S-1?
No public S-1 is on file for Hermeus.
Who are Hermeus' investors?
Hermeus' investors include AE Industrial Partners, Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, Sam Altman, RTX Ventures, Steve Lord.
How much has Hermeus raised?
Hermeus has raised $350M in total, most recently a Series C of $100M in Sep 2024.
Is Hermeus publicly traded — can you buy Hermeus stock?
No. Hermeus is a private company — its shares are not listed on any exchange and there is no ticker. The routes to exposure are pre-IPO secondary marketplaces and funds (accredited investors), employee tender offers when the company runs one, and public companies with read-through exposure. QuantLogix maps every route it can verify for Hermeus on its Pre-IPO Access Desk.
Answers are derived from the roster record shown on this page — filing status, last round and confirmed marks. Where the record is silent, the answer says so rather than guessing.
Company Profile
CEO
AJ Piplica
Founded
2018
HQ
Atlanta, GA
Employees
~150
Total Raised
$350M
Growth
Pre-revenue (DoD contract revenue ramping)
Last Round
Series C — $100M (Sep 2024) · Lead: AE Industrial Partners
IPO Status
no imminent plans
Fundraising Status
Series C · $100M · 2y 1mo ago
no imminent plansTotal raised $350M
Secondary Market
Implied price / share
$15
Last round price / share
$23.35
vs last round
-35.8%
Open interest
3
Last round price vs secondary price
Secondary price return by period
Implied per-share price from private secondary transactions, as of Jun 2026. This is a point estimate, not a quote — the feed carries no bid, ask or spread, and a secondary print is evidence of what someone paid on that date rather than a live market. Compare across every tracked name →
Latest Funding Round
Round
Amount
Date
Lead Investor
Post-Money
Series C
$100M
Sep 2024
AE Industrial Partners
—
Vertical Intelligence — Defense / Aerospace
Federal awards
4
prime contracts, last 36 months
Obligated
$23.2M
top: Department of Defense
Largest award
$20.16M
Department of Defense
Latest award
2025-12-29
Largest award: VC-25B HYPERSONIC SBIR PHASE 2 (FA864121C0002)
Name-verified against recipient "HERMEUS CORP" on USASpending.gov as of 2026-10-04. Prime awards only — subcontracts and classified work are not visible in the public registry. Verify on USASpending.gov ↗
Talent Signal
Hiring trend
▶ Hiring steady
+4% vs 2026-08
Open roles
87
via lever
Product-build share
75%
engineering, research, product, design
Trajectory
strengthening
heavy product build — 75% of open roles are product-building functions (engineering/research/product) — 38 of 87 open roles are hardware.
Counted from Hermeus's live job board as of 2026-09-16; role functions classified from posting titles. Open-role counts are an activity signal, not headcount. Refreshed monthly.
Founders & Key People
AJ PiplicaGlenn CaseMike SmaydaSkyler Shuford
Investors
AE Industrial Partners · Founders Fund · Khosla Ventures · Sam Altman · RTX Ventures · Steve Lord
Products
Quarterhorse (uncrewed Mach 5 testbed)
Darkhorse (uncrewed reconnaissance UAV)
Halcyon (passenger Mach 5 jet)
Competitors
Boom Supersonic · Stratolaunch · Lockheed Martin Skunk Works · Reaction Engines
DefenseHypersonicsAerospaceDoD
Private-company numbers are not real-time. Reflects publicly disclosed valuations from press releases, news reports, and tender offers as of 2024-Q4. Refreshed quarterly.