Atlanta startup Hermeus is leasing a 110,000-square-foot space in Doraville for its headquarters and aircraft assembly factory as it ramps up hiring and testing capabilities.
The hypersonic jet startup intends to develop a Mach 5 aircraft, which can fly at more than 3,000 miles per hour and would make air travel five-times faster.
The space, located in a Doraville warehouse near the I-285, I-85 interchange, will support some manufacturing and structures testing for the innovative plane.
“This factory will allow us to build our first aircraft — conducting structures, avionics and other major subsystem testing all in-house,” said Glenn Case, co-founder and chief technology officer, in a statement.
The new factory will house Hermeus' 25 current employees. Co-founder and Chief Operations Officer Skyler Shuford said the startup plans to have 40-50 employees by the end of 2021 and double that number every year. Employees will be based in the Doraville headquarters.
Lance Morsell, the Doraville economic development director, said Hermeus is the only tenant in the industrial warehouse, which was vacant.
"It continues the trend of Doraville becoming more and more competitive with our surrounding cities in the relocation market," said Morsell, noting Doraville's MARTA and interstate access as advantages.
Hermeus is also opening a test facility near the DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, which will be a custom space for flight tests.
The factory announcement comes about six months after Hermeus closed a $16 million Series A round, led by West Coast-based Canaan Partners. That funding aimed to help Hermeus develop and test an engine that could power the Mach 5 aircraft.
Previously, the Hermeus team had a testing facility in the DeKalb-Peachtree Airport and worked out of two shipping containers. Shuford said the team will immediately move into the new space and start building out the factory’s operational capabilities over time.
Hermeus was founded in 2018 by Shuford, Case, CEO AJ Piplica and Chief Product Officer Michael Smayda. The founders started the company in Atlanta and stayed because of the city’s reputation as a logistics and transportation hub.
Shuford said they wanted to help innovate the speeds of the aerospace industry, which has stayed fairly stagnant since the 1950s. There was a market and national interest in increasing air travel speeds, so Hermeus hopped into the game.
