Mach Industries, a hardware defense technology company, announced that it has raised $5.7M in a round led by Sequoia Capital and with participation from Marque VC and Champion Hill Ventures. This represents Sequoia’s first investment in a hardware defense technology company, adding to the firm’s history of partnering with companies that support US national security interests. The money will be used by Mach to bolster its product development and to continue hiring top talent.
Founded by Ethan Thornton, Mach Industries is spearheading a hardware-first approach to defense with hydrogen creation and combustion techniques. Central to Mach’s innovation is the use of a new generation of fuel: hydrogen. This versatile fuel can be easily manufactured in the field using readily available resources, such as electricity or aluminum, and water. Hydrogen is also interchangeable across all Mach systems. Most importantly, hydrogen enables 10x advancements in range and power for projectiles and unparalleled loiter time and speed for aerial systems.
Mach is initially focused on developing a suite of oxyhydrogen defense platforms, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and aerial protection devices. The company’s systems will provide a significant advantage in both logistics and capability.
Shaun Maguire, a partner at Sequoia, said, “Since witnessing the test flight of hypersonic vehicle 2 in 2011 while at DARPA, I’ve been enamored with hypersonic defense technology. Historically, this has been a hard problem to solve due to the extreme velocities and nonlinearities involved, yet Mach is paving the legitimate technical pathway to overcome these challenges.”
