Funding drives Blackbeard to maximum production rate and accelerates a new longer-range strike system
TORRANCE, Calif., Aug. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Castelion, a cutting-edge defense technology company working to restore America’s conventional deterrence capability, today announced a $1 billion Series C fundraise. This financing will accelerate the scaled production of Blackbeard, Castelion’s first low-cost, mass-producible hypersonic strike missile, while expanding the company’s product portfolio to longer-range strike weapons and defensive systems.
The Series C round is a combination of $800 million in equity financing and $250 million in committed financing for a revolving credit facility. The equity financing was co-led by JPMorganChase’s Strategic Investment Group — part of the firm’s Security and Resiliency Initiative, Andreessen Horowitz, and funds managed by global investment firm Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG). Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lavrock Ventures, Altimeter, General Catalyst, and Interlagos joined new investor T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc* in investing in the fundraise. The round values Castelion at $13 billion.
Castelion has secured more than $500 million in U.S. military contracts over the past 18 months and took Blackbeard from a clean sheet to program of record in under four years, with fielding targeted for 2027.
“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,” said Bryon Hargis, Co-Founder and CEO of Castelion. “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 United States; Blackbeard is an example of what America can do when private capital and Government work together.”
“Castelion is helping to address a critical national security challenge by bringing greater speed, agility and manufacturing capacity to the development of next-generation defense technologies,” said Todd Combs, Head of the Strategic Investment Group for JPMorganChase’s Security and Resiliency Initiative. “Through the Strategic Investment Group, part of the firm’s Security and Resiliency Initiative, JPMorganChase is proud to support companies that are strengthening the defense industrial base, delivering more affordable and scalable solutions to today’s pressing challenges, and advancing the innovation that underpins long-term national and economic security.”
“We backed Castelion when it was a small team that wanted to build what the department of War most needed faster and cheaper than the experts thought possible,” said Katherine Boyle, General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz.
“Four years later there is a factory in New Mexico and a production agreement with the Department of War. American Dynamism has always believed that the hardest and most important problems are physical ones, and this is the clearest proof of it we have that excellent teams can help solve them.”
“We view Castelion as a critical asset to national security, advancing next-gen technology that strengthens America’s defense industrial base,” said Aaron Hurwitz, Managing Director on Carlyle’s Aerospace, Defense & Government team. “We’re excited to partner with the team as they accelerate development and expand capacity.”
Since its founding, Castelion has moved from early development to repeated flight testing, operational integration, and construction of a dedicated high-rate production capability. This new capital will allow Castelion to move faster across three priorities:
Increasing Blackbeard Production Capacity. Castelion will heavily expand manufacturing capacity at and beyond the company’s Project Ranger site in Sandoval County, New Mexico. The 1,000-acre Project Ranger Campus is the largest dedicated hypersonic missile manufacturing facility in the nation. Castelion previously committed more than $250 million in private infrastructure spend at the site and will now commit hundreds of millions more to expand manufacturing capacity of Blackbeard.Developing a Longer-Range Strike System. Castelion is accelerating development and test of a much longer-range precision strike weapon which has been in development at Castelion for several years. This weapon leverages core technologies, components, and manufacturing techniques from the Blackbeard weapon. The goal is to complement large, exquisite systems with a dramatically lower-cost alternative that can be produced at much higher rates – making long-range hypersonic strike a capability that can be fielded in meaningful quantities.Developing Defensive Systems. Castelion is developing defensive systems that builds on the technologies, manufacturing methods, and rapid iteration model developed for Blackbeard. This effort will be focused on bringing lower-cost, higher production rates, and greater magazine depth to increasingly important air and missile defense missions.
“Lightspeed led Castelion’s Series A before a complete system had flown,” said Ravi Mhatre, Co-Founder of Lightspeed Venture Partners. “Three rounds later the company is mixing its own propellant in New Mexico and shipping hardware to the services. Very few teams convert capital into physical capability at that ratio, which is why we have invested in every round since.”
“We backed Castelion at pre-seed, when this was still just an idea, and the production demand it’s generating today is the clearest signal we’ve ever seen,” said Alex Poulin, Partner at Lavrock Ventures. “In under four years, Castelion has gone from clean sheet to program of record, one of the fastest ramps in the sector. Lavrock is proud to keep backing the team as they scale Blackbeard and bring new systems online.”
“Castelion has earned extraordinary trust and credibility by demonstrating technology that creates an asymmetric advantage and can be built at speed, cost, and scale,” said Erik Kriessmann, Partner at Altimeter. “They’ve turned ambitious promises into flight-tested hardware and real production capacity for critical national security priorities. The opportunity ahead is enormous, and we believe Castelion is building one of the most important defense companies of this generation.”
“Bryon, Sean and Andrew have built Castelion on strong fundamentals,” said Emma Norchet of T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. “The company has contracts in hand, a manufacturing campus built with its own capital, and unit economics that improve with scale — truly unique characteristics for a company before it reaches the public markets. We are thrilled to be participating in this round.”
“We believe credible deterrence will be won by companies that manufacture at the speed of the threat, build on frontier technology, and attract exceptional talent,” said Alexa Liautaud, Partner at General Catalyst. “Castelion exemplifies that rigor, and we are proud to deepen our partnership as the team works to close a critical hypersonic gap.”
“Castelion is at the forefront of defense manufacturing in the nation,” said Tom Ochinero, Chairman and Founding Partner of Interlagos Capital. “They’re building the capabilities to produce thousands of hypersonic weapons a year, something the U.S. has never seen before. Interlagos is proud to back their $1 Billion Series C and the broader shift this represents.”
About Castelion:
Castelion builds American hypersonic deterrence through rapid, affordable, and scalable production of advanced strike weapons. Blackbeard is the first American hypersonic missile engineered from inception for industrial-rate output, commercial unit cost, and continuous flight test iteration. The company is headquartered in Torrance, California, with manufacturing operations in New Mexico, Texas, and California, and offices in Washington D.C. For more information on Castelion, please visit www.castelion.com.
*An account advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.
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SOURCE Castelion
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