Hermeus, the Atlanta-founded company building unmanned hypersonic aircraft for national security missions, just hit unicorn status with a $350 million Series C round. But there's a catch for local tech boosters: they're moving headquarters to El Segundo, right next to LAX.
The company will keep its Atlanta facility open for production, with no layoffs planned and active hiring for engineering talent. But the HQ move is a loss for Atlanta's aerospace ecosystem, even if the production jobs stay.
Hermeus works with the Department of Defense and has investors including NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and Sam Altman. The team has grown to more than 275 employees across Atlanta, Los Angeles, DC, and Jacksonville. "Speed is life for us," said CEO AJ Piplica. "This new funding lets us build multiple aircraft at the same time and scale our manufacturing capabilities."
