Castelion Secures $1B Series C at $13B Valuation for Hypersonic Missile Production

Castelion, a defense technology company founded by former SpaceX personnel, has secured $1 billion in new capital that values the enterprise at $13 billion, as first reported by TechCrunch Startups.

The Series C transaction comprises $800 million in fresh equity alongside a $250 million revolving credit facility. Venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, private equity manager Carlyle, and financial giant JP Morgan Chase co-led the financing. Existing investors General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Altimeter also contributed to the round.

Established in 2022 and headquartered in Torrance, California, Castelion aims to manufacture hypersonic weapon systems at significantly lower costs and faster production turnarounds than traditional defense prime contractors.

To date, the defense startup has secured more than $500 million in military contracts from the U.S. armed forces. The newly raised capital is earmarked to expand manufacturing operations at the company's production plant in New Mexico.

Among the primary systems scheduled for scaled fabrication is the company's Blackbeard missile platform, a hypersonic weapon named after the English pirate, along with additional high-speed weapon hardware currently under development.

The massive financing arrives as the U.S. Department of Defense seeks to expand its supply of hypersonic weapons—arms engineered to travel at velocities exceeding Mach 5. Federal defense planners are attempting to narrow a stockpile deficit, as American deployments of high-speed missiles have lagged behind similar inventory developments in China.

By leveraging modernized aerospace manufacturing techniques, Castelion intends to streamline production schedules to help fulfill expanding Pentagon orders for high-speed missile platforms.