Jamie Bennet
Sequoia Capital made a seed investment in Mach Industries, a startup company specializing in unmanned aerial vehicles and other defense platforms that run on hydrogen fuel.
The funding marks Sequoia’s entry into the hardware defense technology business, the venture capital firm said Thursday.
Austin, Texas-based Mach Industries was founded by Ethan Thornton in 2022. It is harnessing the potential of hydrogen to boost the range, power, loiter phase or speed of projectiles and other aerial defense systems.
The company is developing a weapon system that could produce oxyhydrogen fuel to power UAVs and aerial protection devices. Thornton told Reuters that Mach Industries is engaged in a research collaboration with the Department of Defense for its novel technologies. It will also use the funding to expand its work sites, hire employees and advance product development.
“We’ve built out facilities in Boston and Austin and are now moving towards production. We are looking to have deployed systems within the next year,” he said in the Reuters interview.
