High-Speed Aircraft Maker Moves HQ From Atlanta To Los Angeles

Defense aviation company Hermeus is moving its headquarters from Atlanta to El Segundo. 

The move, first reported by the Los Angeles Times, aligns with an announcement from Hermeus that the company closed $350M in Series C financing. The round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation by Founders Fund, which was co-founded by Peter Thiel. 

Considering all capital raised, the company now has a $1B valuation. 

"This funding provides the strategic capital to move from prototyping to mission-ready, high-Mach platforms, keeping Hermeus on a path to deliver the fastest unmanned aircraft flying today," according to a company release.

Hermeus is now working on a three-plane fleet of unmanned planes to the scale of F-16 jets that could reach Mach 3, or supersonic speed, and would be faster than other planes used in warfare. 

The company's goal is to ultimately make aircraft that travel at Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, also known as hypersonic speed. 

El Segundo and the South Bay have seen a boom in aerospace and defense tenants coming to lease space in the region. The area has historically been a hub for these types of companies, and big-name contractors including Northrop Grumman are still present there. 

Hermeus' new El Segundo headquarters is 67K SF at Hackman Capital Partners' 888 Douglas at 888 N. Douglas St. It is a return to form for the property, which was a former Northrop Grumman military aircraft manufacturing facility that Hackman turned into creative office space.

The El Segundo property is smaller than the 110K SF Atlanta facility that has been its headquarters and production facility since 2021, the LA Times reported. 

L'Oreal US and Beyond Meat are also tenants at the El Segundo property. Last spring, the latter gave back about 61K SF, CoStar News reported at the time. 

Hermeus' Georgia facility will now focus on production, the company said.