Castelion Valuation and Funding History: From a $14.2 Million Seed to $13 Billion

Castelion is valued at about $13 billion after a $1 billion Series C announced on August 19, 2026, made up of $800 million in equity and a $250 million revolving credit facility. That is its latest round as of November 14, 2026. Castelion is private: it has no stock ticker and has not filed for an IPO.

The Torrance, California maker of the Blackbeard hypersonic strike missile was founded in November 2022 by former SpaceX employees. It raised a $14.2 million seed less than a year later and reached a $13 billion valuation less than three years after that. This page lists every Castelion round with the amount, valuation, investors and source, and explains where reported figures differ.

Castelion funding rounds at a glance

Castelion has published a valuation only for its latest round. Earlier rounds were announced or reported without one.

How much is Castelion worth?

About $13 billion, based on the August 2026 Series C. Castelion's law firm on the deal, Orrick, gave the $13 billion figure, and Washington Technology reported that the company "touts its valuation at around $13 billion." As The Next Web pointed out, it is the $800 million of equity, not the credit line, that sets the valuation.

The equity was co-led by JPMorganChase's Strategic Investment Group, part of the bank's Security and Resiliency Initiative, Andreessen Horowitz and funds managed by Carlyle. Lightspeed, Lavrock Ventures, Altimeter, General Catalyst and Interlagos returned, and T. Rowe Price joined as a new investor.

Castelion valuation history: what is known for each round

Seed, October 2023

Castelion came out of stealth on October 5, 2023 with a $14.2 million seed co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Lavrock Ventures, with First In, BlueYard Capital and Champion Hill Ventures, according to TechCrunch. The company was then 11 months old and based in El Segundo. Its co-founders are chief executive Bryon Hargis, chief operating officer Sean Pitt and chief financial officer Andrew Kreitz, per the company's website.

Series A, January 2025

Lightspeed Venture Partners led a $100 million Series A in January 2025, about $70 million of equity and $30 million of debt, as TechCrunch reported later that year. No valuation was published.

Series B, 2025

On July 3, 2025, TechCrunch reported that Castelion had signed a term sheet for a $350 million Series B led by Lightspeed and Altimeter, valuing the company "in the billions." Washington Technology later reported that the $350 million round closed in December 2025. Castelion did not publish a valuation. Some data aggregators print a specific Series B number; we found no company or press confirmation for it, so we leave it out.

Series C, August 2026

The $1 billion Series C was announced on August 19, 2026, the date on Castelion's own release. Its proceeds go to scaling Blackbeard production and expanding into longer-range strike weapons and lower-cost defensive systems.

How much has Castelion raised?

Adding the rounds gives about $1.26 billion of seed through Series C funding ($14.2 million, $100 million, $350 million and $800 million), plus the $250 million credit facility. The Series A total includes about $30 million of debt. Castelion has not published a cumulative figure, and aggregator totals vary depending on whether they count the credit facility and the debt.

Where the reported numbers disagree

• Series C size: most outlets and the company say $1 billion. Equity plus the credit facility adds up to $1.05 billion, which is the figure some databases use.
• Series B date: the round was reported as agreed in July 2025 and closed in December 2025, so databases date it to either month.
• Series C date: Castelion's release is dated August 19, 2026; most coverage appeared on August 20 and 21.
• Earlier valuations: none were disclosed. Low or precise figures on pre-IPO aggregator sites are not sourced to the company or to press reports.

Castelion Blackbeard: what it is and what it costs

Blackbeard is a hypersonic strike weapon designed to be produced in large numbers. Castelion says it works with air, ground and containerized launchers and describes it on its website as costing less than $500,000 per round, with production planned at thousands of rounds per year. The company says Blackbeard will be fielded in 2027, and its website lists early 2027 as the start of production.

The US Army's version, Blackbeard Ground Launch, is designed to fire from HIMARS launchers. According to the Army budget request reported by The War Zone, it aims to deliver "approximately 80% of the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) Increment 4 capability," and the fiscal 2026 (FY2026) request included $25 million for the effort.

What is the Castelion Blackbeard missile range?

Castelion has not published an official range. The War Zone estimated, from the Army's 80% goal, that the missile could reach targets "just under 500 miles (800 kilometers)." That is a press estimate, not a company or government figure, and range from a ground launcher would likely be lower than from an aircraft.

Contracts behind the valuation

Castelion says it has booked more than $500 million in US military contracts over 18 months. The main announced awards are:

• May 2026: a Department of Defense (DoD) testing and validation agreement, which created a framework to buy at least 500 Blackbeard missiles a year for up to five years (Washington Technology). The department has also styled itself the Department of War since September 2025.
• June 16, 2026: a $23.4 million US Navy firm-fixed-price order for 50 Blackbeard early operational capability prototypes and containers.
• August 25, 2026: an $89,997,162 Navy order to advance Blackbeard to early operational capability.
• September 14, 2026: a production delivery order worth up to $200 million for an initial lot of Blackbeard rounds.

The three Navy orders are listed on Castelion's website. To build at volume, the company broke ground in November 2025 on Project Ranger, a 1,000-acre manufacturing campus in Sandoval County, New Mexico, into which it says it has put more than $250 million of its own capital. It also runs a production and test site in Midland, Texas, and reported 21 flight tests in 2025.

How Castelion compares with other weapons startups

Castelion's valuation is far above other venture-backed US companies working on strike weapons, rocket motors and hypersonic vehicles. The closest by value is Mach Industries, which builds low-cost strike and cruise missiles.

Sources: The Defense Post (Mach), Orrick (Firehawk) and Built In (Hermeus). One difference is Castelion's contract position: in September 2026 it received a production delivery order for Blackbeard rounds, on top of development and prototype work.

Can you buy Castelion stock? Is there a Castelion IPO?

No. Castelion is privately held, has no ticker and is not listed on any exchange. A full-text search of SEC EDGAR on November 14, 2026 found no S-1 registration statement filed by Castelion, and the company has made no public statement about an IPO. Private shares occasionally trade on secondary platforms, which are generally restricted to accredited investors and do not set the company's valuation.

Castelion ranks fourth in our list of US defense tech unicorns, behind Anduril, Shield AI and Applied Intuition. It sits in the hypersonics and propulsion sector of our directory with companies such as Hermeus, Ursa Major, X-Bow Systems and Firehawk. For the market's largest private valuation, see our Anduril valuation history; the company profile is at Castelion, among other California defense tech companies.

This article is for information only and is not investment advice.