Hypersonica has raised €100 million in Series B funding to speed up development of hypersonic missiles designed for European defence. The British-German startup is trying to turn a successful prototype flight into a deployable long-range system by 2029.
The round was co-led by Lightspeed and General Catalyst, with existing investors Plural and 201 Ventures participating. The capital will fund more testing, engineering and manufacturing capacity across the UK and Germany, where the company expects to create hundreds of jobs.
In February, its HS-1 test vehicle flew above Mach 6 over more than 300 kilometres from Andøya Space in Norway. Hypersonica says it completed the programme from design to launchpad in nine months and can cut development costs by more than 80% compared with conventional approaches.
Co-founders Philipp Kerth and Marc Ewenz say the new financing marks a shift from demonstrating the technology to delivering it. Their target is a European-built system that avoids dependence on US export-control approval.
Venture funding can accelerate development, but the real milestone is repeatable flight tests proving a prototype can become a usable defence system.
Photo: Nick Frank / Hypersonica.
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