Defense tech Mach Industries doubles valuation to $3.7B in 3 months

Funding and Valuation

Defense tech startup Mach Industries raised $600 million in a Series C extension round, doubling its valuation to $3.7 billion, the company announced on Thursday. The original Series C was announced in June at $300 million and a $1.8 billion valuation. Investors in both tranches include Ribbit Capital, Infinite Capital, Bedrock Capital, and Sequoia. This represents a two-fold jump in three months. The previous round was itself a quadruple increase from a $100 million round at a $470 million valuation announced in June 2025.

Products and Manufacturing

Mach manufactures unmanned military vehicles and weapons, including:

• Vertical takeoff and landing drones
• Systems for long-range strikes
• Counter-drone systems

It operates a 115,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at its Huntington Beach, California headquarters, with additional facilities across the state. Its pitch is that it builds highly integrated systems that cost less than those from incumbent defense contractors.

Acquisition and Energetics

To that end, Mach acquired solid rocket motor (SRM) startup Exquadrum in a $50 million cash-and-equity deal in May, beating out at least eight other potential buyers, the startup said. The rise of drones created a shortage of SRMs in a market largely controlled by two incumbents. Exquadrum was Mach's answer to that bottleneck. The acquisition became the basis for Mach Energetics, which produces SRMs, jet engines, and energetic systems for others.

Founder and Investors

Mach was founded and is run by 22-year-old Ethan Thornton, who dropped out of MIT at age 19. Sequoia's Stephanie Zhan and Shaun Maguire became investors, marking the first defense tech investment for the venerable venture firm. After landing a U.S. Army contract earlier this year, the company caught the attention of Ribbit Capital, once best known as a fintech investor but more recently involved in high-profile AI deals ranging from coding startups like Cognition to neoclouds like Crusoe.