Key Takeaways
- • Hypersonica raised €100 million in a Series B round co-led by US venture firms Lightspeed and General Catalyst, with Plural and 201 Ventures also participating, bringing its total funding to about €126 million.
- • The German-British defence startup, based near Munich with a London office, says it went from concept to a Mach 6 test flight in nine months, with its HS-1 prototype launched from Andøya Space in Norway and flying more than 300 km.
- • The company has not disclosed its valuation; the FT, citing unnamed sources, reports it at around €700 million.
- • Hypersonica claims its development model is 80% cheaper than conventional approaches, and the round is expected to create hundreds of engineering and manufacturing jobs in the UK and Germany.
- • US investors now account for 47% of European defence tech funding according to Dealroom data, and the sector is expected to reach a record $10.5 billion this year.
Summary
Hypersonica, a German-British defence startup, has closed a €100 million Series B round co-led by Lightspeed and General Catalyst, the two US venture leads. Plural and 201 Ventures also joined the round. According to the article, the company has raised about €126 million in total, including a €2.5 million seed round and a €23.3 million Series A. Plural led the Series A, which was announced on February 10, with SPRIND, Germany's Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation, General Catalyst, and 201 Ventures also participating. General Catalyst led the seed round.
The company was founded in December 2023 by co-founders Philipp Kerth, a physicist, and Dr Marc Ewenz, an aerospace engineer, who met during their PhDs in hypersonics at Oxford. The company has early backing from TUM Venture Labs. Alongside the funding, Hypersonica announced test results: its HS-1 prototype, an unarmoured design, was launched by Andøya Space in Norway and reached speeds above Mach 6 (over 7,400 km/h) and flew more than 300 km, according to the company. Hypersonica says no other privately funded European defence company has achieved this, and that it took nine months to go from concept to a flight-ready system. The company has not disclosed its valuation, though the FT, citing unnamed sources, has reported it at around €700 million. The funding is intended to accelerate development of its deep strike system, enable more test flights, and expand operations and manufacturing in Europe.
Both lead investors have sector experience. Lightspeed led Castelion's Series A, co-led its Series B, and invests in Helsing. General Catalyst led Helsing's €209 million Series B in 2023 and €450 million Series C in 2024. Both firms participated in Castelion's $1 billion Series C at a $13 billion valuation in August. Lightspeed partner Alexander Schmitt and General Catalyst president and managing director Jeannette zu Fürstenberg praised the team, with zu Fürstenberg describing the company as addressing one of Europe's most critical capability gaps. Plural partner Ian Hogart, who led its Series A, cited the founders' "obsessive focus on first-principles engineering."
According to Dealroom data cited in the article, US investors account for 47% of European defence tech funding, and the sector is expected to hit a record $10.5 billion this year, with Munich receiving 40% of the funding. The article notes competitive context: Castelion has over $500 million in US military contracts, Hermeus reached $1 billion in April, and Destinus, which began in hypersonics, is moving into broader precision-strike missiles. The UK's Defence Investment Plan allocates £770 million over four years to a joint programme with Germany under the Trinity House Agreement, covering stealth cruise and hypersonic weapons with ranges above 2,000 km and delivery projected for the 2030s. The article also notes that no named buyer, manoeuvring flight, or per-missile price has yet been disclosed.
The company was founded in December 2023 by co-founders Philipp Kerth, a physicist, and Dr Marc Ewenz, an aerospace engineer, who met during their PhDs in hypersonics at Oxford. The company has early backing from TUM Venture Labs. Alongside the funding, Hypersonica announced test results: its HS-1 prototype, an unarmoured design, was launched by Andøya Space in Norway and reached speeds above Mach 6 (over 7,400 km/h) and flew more than 300 km, according to the company. Hypersonica says no other privately funded European defence company has achieved this, and that it took nine months to go from concept to a flight-ready system. The company has not disclosed its valuation, though the FT, citing unnamed sources, has reported it at around €700 million. The funding is intended to accelerate development of its deep strike system, enable more test flights, and expand operations and manufacturing in Europe.
Both lead investors have sector experience. Lightspeed led Castelion's Series A, co-led its Series B, and invests in Helsing. General Catalyst led Helsing's €209 million Series B in 2023 and €450 million Series C in 2024. Both firms participated in Castelion's $1 billion Series C at a $13 billion valuation in August. Lightspeed partner Alexander Schmitt and General Catalyst president and managing director Jeannette zu Fürstenberg praised the team, with zu Fürstenberg describing the company as addressing one of Europe's most critical capability gaps. Plural partner Ian Hogart, who led its Series A, cited the founders' "obsessive focus on first-principles engineering."
According to Dealroom data cited in the article, US investors account for 47% of European defence tech funding, and the sector is expected to hit a record $10.5 billion this year, with Munich receiving 40% of the funding. The article notes competitive context: Castelion has over $500 million in US military contracts, Hermeus reached $1 billion in April, and Destinus, which began in hypersonics, is moving into broader precision-strike missiles. The UK's Defence Investment Plan allocates £770 million over four years to a joint programme with Germany under the Trinity House Agreement, covering stealth cruise and hypersonic weapons with ranges above 2,000 km and delivery projected for the 2030s. The article also notes that no named buyer, manoeuvring flight, or per-missile price has yet been disclosed.
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