Brief

Gen‑Z founder takes Mach Industries to $3.7 billion valuation

A 22‑year‑old CEO has steered Mach Industries to a $3.7 billion valuation after a $600 million Series C extension, expanding its autonomous defense portfolio.

By Felo News Desk · Published Mon, 28 Sep 2026 16:50:04 GMT

Fortune reports that defense‑tech firm Mach Industries, founded by 22‑year‑old Ethan Thornton, raised $600 million in a Series C extension, valuing the company at $3.7 billion. The round followed an earlier $300 million Series C that lifted the valuation to $1.8 billion just three months earlier. Thornton, who launched Mach in 2023 at age 19, said the company’s rapid growth is driven by a willingness to move quickly and adapt to the evolving defense industry.

By 2024, Mach had secured a deal with the Army Applications Laboratory to develop a vertical‑takeoff precision cruise missile. Today the company operates a 115,000‑square‑foot headquarters and manufacturing facility in Huntington Beach, California, and manages six weapons programmes, including airframes, jet engines, solid rocket motors, energetic systems and autonomous technologies.

Thornton explained that private capital allows Mach to test and iterate before large programmes commit, and that the firm is shifting focus toward production. He noted that the company has built manufacturing capability alongside product design to accelerate delivery.