Company intelligence

Castelion

Castelion builds low-cost hypersonic missile systems for the U.S. military, aiming to mass-produce weapons traditional defense primes build slowly and expensively.

DefenseTorrance, California, USAFounded 2023Founders: Bryon Hargis, Sean Pitt, Andrew KreitzWebsite ↗See connections →Compare with Anthropic
Last verified Aug 19, 2026

Key Metrics

Valuation
$13B
As of Aug 19, 2026Castelion
Total funding
$1.35B+
As of Aug 19, 2026EstimatedCastelion

Company Snapshot

Castelion is a Defense company, based in Torrance, California, USA, founded 2023 by Bryon Hargis, Sean Pitt, Andrew Kreitz. Latest valuation $13B (As of Aug 19, 2026, Castelion). Total funding $1.35B+ (As of Aug 19, 2026).

Recent changes

  1. Aug 20, 2026Castelion Hits $13B Value on $1B Hypersonic Missile Round Pulse story
  2. Aug 20, 2026Castelion Hits $13B Valuation to Mass-Produce Missiles Pulse story
  3. Aug 19, 2026Raised $800M Series C at a $13B valuation Castelion
  4. Aug 19, 2026First reported valuation: $13B Castelion
  5. Aug 19, 2026First reported total funding: $1.35B+Estimated Castelion
Earlier changes (12)
  1. Aug 19, 2026New investor: T. Rowe Price Castelion
  2. Aug 19, 2026New investor: Carlyle Group Castelion
  3. Aug 19, 2026New investor: JPMorganChase Strategic Investment Group Castelion
  4. Dec 5, 2025Raised $350M Series B Castelion
  5. Dec 5, 2025New investor: General Catalyst Castelion
  6. Dec 5, 2025New investor: Cantos VC Castelion
  7. Dec 5, 2025New investor: Andreessen Horowitz Castelion
  8. Dec 5, 2025New investor: Lavrock Ventures Castelion
  9. Dec 5, 2025New investor: Lightspeed Venture Partners Castelion
  10. Dec 5, 2025New investor: Interlagos Castelion
  11. Dec 5, 2025New investor: BlueYard Capital Castelion
  12. Dec 5, 2025New investor: Altimeter Capital Castelion

Funding History

2 events · sources dated per row
DateEventAmountValuationInvestorsSource
Aug 19, 2026Series C$800M$13B
JPMorganChase Strategic Investment GroupLeadAndreessen HorowitzLeadCarlyle GroupLeadLightspeed Venture PartnersLavrock VenturesAltimeter CapitalGeneral CatalystInterlagosT. Rowe Price
Castelion
Dec 5, 2025Series B$350M—
Altimeter CapitalLeadLightspeed Venture PartnersLeadLavrock VenturesAndreessen HorowitzGeneral CatalystFirst InCantos VCBlueYard CapitalAvenir Growth CapitalChampion HillInterlagosSpace VC
Castelion
Funding timeline · 2 rounds · $1.1B tracked
$0.0M$448M$896M$350MSeries BDec 25$800MSeries CAug 26

Investors

Altimeter CapitalAndreessen HorowitzLightspeed Venture PartnersCarlyle GroupJPMorganChase Strategic Investment GroupGeneral CatalystInterlagosLavrock VenturesAvenir Growth CapitalBlueYard CapitalCantos VCChampion HillFirst InT. Rowe Price

Latest Pulse

  1. Furientis Raises $25M Seed To Mass-Produce InterceptorsFurientis raised a $25M seed led by Benchmark, its first pure defense investment, to mass-produce low-cost interceptor missiles and close the gap with China's output.→
  2. New Mexico's Oil Windfall Becomes A $2B VC BetNew Mexico's state investment fund has committed $1.8 billion to venture funds over three years, using oil and gas royalties to seed a fusion, defense and advanced-manufacturing bet meant to outlast its own commodity cycle.→
  3. Mach Industries Doubles Valuation To $3.7BDefense-tech drone maker Mach Industries raised an additional $600 million, doubling its valuation to $3.7 billion just three months after its original Series C, an eightfold jump in a little over a year.→
  4. Hardware Is Getting Software's Round Sizes NowStoke Space's $1 billion round joins Castelion's $1.05 billion and Atoms' $1.7 billion as capital-intensive physical-hardware startups now command the round sizes and speed that used to be reserved for software.→
  5. Venture Funding's 2026 Boom Is Really Fewer, Bigger BetsAugust's $42B in global venture funding, a $14.6B defense-tech record, and a wave of billion-dollar seed rounds all point to the same mechanism: more dollars chasing fewer, later-feeling deals.→
  6. Defense Tech's Record Year Is Concentrating, Not BroadeningDefense tech has already topped 2025's full-year funding record with four months left in 2026, but deal volume is barely up -- the dollars are concentrating into fewer, larger rounds led by Anduril and Castelion.→
  7. Stoke Space Raises $1B to Out-Reuse SpaceXStoke Space closed a $1 billion Series E led by Point72 Ventures and Spark Capital, pushing total funding to $2.3 billion as it builds a rocket designed so both stages fly back and refly.→
  8. Defense Tech's Two Speeds: Hypersonics and Everyone ElseCastelion's $13 billion valuation and Shield AI's $12.7 billion mark show defense-tech capital concentrating hard in a handful of hardware primes-in-waiting, while smaller Tier 2/3 suppliers are left to roll up instead of raise.→
  9. T3 Defense Registers Shares After Its Drone PivotT3 Defense, the Nasdaq-listed company formerly known as Nukkleus, filed a new resale registration tied to its acquisition of Israeli drone maker Nimbus, formalizing its pivot into unmanned defense systems.→
  10. August's Megarounds Went to Missiles and InferenceIn a single mid-August week, six US startups raised $2.63 billion between them, and the two largest -- a hypersonic missile maker and an inference chip company -- accounted for $1.5 billion of it.→
All 25 stories →

Coverage Timeline

newest first
  1. Sep 8, 2026FUNDINGHardware Is Getting Software's Round Sizes Now→
  2. Sep 8, 2026FUNDINGDefense Tech's Record Year Is Concentrating, Not Broadening→
  3. Sep 7, 2026FUNDINGDefense Tech's Two Speeds: Hypersonics and Everyone Else$13B and $12.7B valuations→
  4. Sep 2, 2026FUNDINGAugust's Megarounds Went to Missiles and Inference$2.63B in a week→
  5. Aug 31, 2026FUNDINGDefense Tech's $35.6 Billion Year, By the Comps$35.6B YTD (+40%)→
  6. Aug 29, 2026FUNDINGPhysical AI Is Out-Raising the Model Layer This Month→
  7. Aug 21, 2026IPOThe Defense-Space IPO Ladder, By the Numbers→
  8. Aug 21, 2026IPOWhy I'm Wary of This Week's Pre-Revenue IPO Rush→
  9. Aug 20, 2026FUNDINGAugust's AI Infrastructure Deals Already Top $8.7B→
  10. Aug 20, 2026FUNDINGCastelion Hits $13B Value on $1B Hypersonic Missile Round$1B Series C at $13B→
  11. Aug 20, 2026IPOCastelion Hits $13B Valuation to Mass-Produce Missiles$1B Series C at $13B→

All Coverage

FUNDING

Hardware Is Getting Software's Round Sizes Now

Illustration for: Hardware Is Getting Software's Round Sizes Now
FUNDING

Hardware Is Getting Software's Round Sizes Now

Stoke Space's $1 billion round joins Castelion's $1.05 billion and Atoms' $1.7 billion as capital-intensive physical-hardware startups now command the round sizes and speed that used to be reserved for software.

DEEP DIVE
FUNDING

Defense Tech's Record Year Is Concentrating, Not Broadening

Illustration for: Defense Tech's Record Year Is Concentrating, Not Broadening
FUNDING

Defense Tech's Record Year Is Concentrating, Not Broadening

Defense tech has already topped 2025's full-year funding record with four months left in 2026, but deal volume is barely up -- the dollars are concentrating into fewer, larger rounds led by Anduril and Castelion.

DEEP DIVE
FUNDING

Defense Tech's Two Speeds: Hypersonics and Everyone Else

Illustration for: Defense Tech's Two Speeds: Hypersonics and Everyone Else
FUNDING$13B and $12.7B valuations

Defense Tech's Two Speeds: Hypersonics and Everyone Else

Castelion's $13 billion valuation and Shield AI's $12.7 billion mark show defense-tech capital concentrating hard in a handful of hardware primes-in-waiting, while smaller Tier 2/3 suppliers are left to roll up instead of raise.

DEEP DIVE
FUNDING

August's Megarounds Went to Missiles and Inference

Illustration for: August's Megarounds Went to Missiles and Inference
FUNDING$2.63B in a week

August's Megarounds Went to Missiles and Inference

In a single mid-August week, six US startups raised $2.63 billion between them, and the two largest -- a hypersonic missile maker and an inference chip company -- accounted for $1.5 billion of it.

BY THE NUMBERS
FUNDING

Defense Tech's $35.6 Billion Year, By the Comps

Illustration for: Defense Tech's $35.6 Billion Year, By the Comps
FUNDING$35.6B YTD (+40%)

Defense Tech's $35.6 Billion Year, By the Comps

Anduril at $61 billion, Castelion at $13 billion, True Anomaly at $600 million raised -- the named rounds behind defense tech's $35.6 billion year explain what's actually driving the category better than the aggregate number does.

DEEP DIVE
FUNDING

Physical AI Is Out-Raising the Model Layer This Month

Illustration for: Physical AI Is Out-Raising the Model Layer This Month
FUNDING

Physical AI Is Out-Raising the Model Layer This Month

Named August rounds for chips, energy and defense hardware -- Castelion, Etched, Groq and Base Power -- total more than $3.2 billion, versus roughly $1.1 billion for consumer and enterprise AI application startups covered on Pulse the same month.

BY THE NUMBERS
IPO

The Defense-Space IPO Ladder, By the Numbers

Illustration for: The Defense-Space IPO Ladder, By the Numbers
IPO

The Defense-Space IPO Ladder, By the Numbers

This week's Castelion, Lyntris and Gravitics numbers together show a wide split in how public and private markets are pricing defense and space companies at almost the same moment.

BY THE NUMBERS
IPO

Why I'm Wary of This Week's Pre-Revenue IPO Rush

Illustration for: Why I'm Wary of This Week's Pre-Revenue IPO Rush
IPO

Why I'm Wary of This Week's Pre-Revenue IPO Rush

Gravitics is reaching Nasdaq with zero revenue via reverse merger the same week Castelion raised private capital at 26x contracted revenue -- a pattern worth pushing back on before it becomes the default path for hardware startups.

THE VC READ
FUNDING

August's AI Infrastructure Deals Already Top $8.7B

Illustration for: August's AI Infrastructure Deals Already Top $8.7B
FUNDING

August's AI Infrastructure Deals Already Top $8.7B

Databricks' $5B raise, Firmus' $2B round, Castelion's $1B Series C and Etched's $700M add up to $8.7B in AI infrastructure and adjacent capital-intensive funding in August alone.

BY THE NUMBERS
FUNDING

Castelion Hits $13B Value on $1B Hypersonic Missile Round

Illustration for: Castelion Hits $13B Value on $1B Hypersonic Missile Round
FUNDING$1B Series C at $13B

Castelion Hits $13B Value on $1B Hypersonic Missile Round

Castelion, the hypersonic-missile startup founded by former SpaceX executives, raised a $1B Series C co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, Carlyle and JPMorgan Chase at a $13B valuation, more than double its prior mark.

DEEP DIVE
IPO

Castelion Hits $13B Valuation to Mass-Produce Missiles

Illustration for: Castelion Hits $13B Valuation to Mass-Produce Missiles
IPO$1B Series C at $13B

Castelion Hits $13B Valuation to Mass-Produce Missiles

Defense startup Castelion raised a $1B Series C co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, Carlyle and JPMorgan at a $13B valuation to mass-produce hypersonic missiles in New Mexico, as the Pentagon races to close a stockpile gap with China.

DEEP DIVE

Value Add Research

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More on CastelionDefense Tech Tracker →

Castelion FAQ

What is Castelion's valuation?

Castelion's valuation is $13B (As of Aug 19, 2026, Castelion).

How much has Castelion raised?

Castelion has raised $1.35B+ in total funding (As of Aug 19, 2026, Castelion).

Who are Castelion's investors?

Castelion's investors include Altimeter Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Carlyle Group, JPMorganChase Strategic Investment Group, and 9 more (As of Aug 19, 2026).

Sources & methodologyshow
Where these figures come from

Figures are labelled Reported (a source states it), Estimated, Derived (computed from other facts) or Rumored (in talks / unconfirmed). Rumors never replace a confirmed figure. Each figure keeps its own as-of date; history is preserved rather than overwritten.

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