Defence tech company Castelion has secured $1bn in Series C funding to ramp up production of its Blackbeard hypersonic missile and further develop advanced weapons technology.
The investment, which comprises $800m in equity alongside a $250m revolving credit facility, raises the company’s valuation to $13bn.
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The equity portion was jointly led by investment funds including JPMorganChase’s Strategic Investment Group, Andreessen Horowitz, and Carlyle. Other participants in the round include Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lavrock Ventures, Altimeter, General Catalyst, Interlagos, and new investor T. Rowe Price Associates.
Castelion plans to allocate the majority of the new capital for increasing Blackbeard missile manufacturing capacity at Castelion’s Project Ranger site in Sandoval County, New Mexico.
Occupying a 1,000-acre campus, the site is described as the largest dedicated hypersonic missile manufacturing facility in the US.
More than $250m has already been invested in infrastructure, with further spending planned to boost production.
Further investment will support the development of a longer-range precision strike weapon, leveraging technologies and manufacturing practices established with Blackbeard.
Castelion aims to deliver a lower-cost, high-rate production alternative to complement existing long-range systems.
In addition, the company is advancing defensive systems based on the rapid development and production methods pioneered for Blackbeard, targeting increased magazine depth and affordability for air and missile defence needs.
Castelion co-founder and CEO Bryon Hargis said: “Deterrence depends on unapologetic American strength; highly capable weapon systems that adversaries fear produced in quantities they can’t imagine at a price taxpayers can afford.
“There’s a manufacturing renaissance underway and this round turbocharges American production of Blackbeard. Designed in California, built in New Mexico, supplied from small and large businesses across the US; Blackbeard is an example of what America can do when private capital and government work together.”
Headquartered in Torrance, California, Castelion focuses on building US hypersonic deterrence by emphasising rapid, affordable, and scalable production of advanced strike weapons.
Over the past 18 months, the company has won more than $500m in US military contracts and developed its Blackbeard missile from concept to programme of record in less than four years.
Deployment of the Blackbeard missile is targeted for 2027.
