Aerospace is a broad industry, encompassing commercial aviation, space, defense, communication, and supply chain. Some branches are hotter than others. With only 29% of companies saying they’ve solidified their future supply chain readiness, and low-earth satellite spending expected to jump ~25% from 2025 to 2026, the field looks to a couple of bright superstars to fuel growth.
Which startups are on the radar?
We put our heads together and refined metrics on aerospace companies that have received lots of funding and are funded in the Silicon Valley ecosystem. This ranking sheds light on the hottest aerospace companies and allows for clear comparisons with similar funding and business models. It also applies the power laws to funding and company concentration in this space.
Top 25 Aerospace Startups Ranking Table
We analyzed data from Crunchbase and Keywords Everywhere to uncover the top US aerospace companies with top investors from Silicon Valley.
| Ranking | Company | GFD Tech100 Final Score* | GFD Funding Score* | GFD Website Score* | GFD Branded Keyword Score* |
| 1 | Anduril Industries | 81.2 | 83.0 | 53.4 | 53.0 |
| 2 | Rocket Lab | 78.9 | 80.9 | 36.7 | 55.1 |
| 3 | Planet | 78.5 | 76.5 | 51.5 | 66.4 |
| 4 | SpaceX | 77.5 | 76.3 | 62.7 | 60.2 |
| 5 | Apex | 73.8 | 72.3 | 38.3 | 65.1 |
| 6 | Joby Aviation | 73.2 | 73.8 | 45.4 | 53.3 |
| 7 | Wheels Up | 72.5 | 71.2 | 59.5 | 56.5 |
| 8 | Chaos | 69.4 | 67.6 | 34.0 | 63.1 |
| 9 | Hadrian | 67.1 | 67.9 | 38.3 | 50.2 |
| 10 | Epirus | 66.3 | 67.0 | 46.8 | 47.3 |
| 11 | Impulse Space | 66.0 | 68.7 | 42.1 | 40.0 |
| 12 | Varda | 65.9 | 66.8 | 39.0 | 48.1 |
| 13 | True Anomaly | 65.0 | 66.9 | 40.0 | 42.7 |
| 14 | Stoke Space | 64.3 | 65.7 | 46.6 | 42.6 |
| 15 | Loft Orbital | 60.8 | 63.6 | 36.0 | 36.6 |
| 16 | Firestorm | 59.5 | 57.1 | 46.9 | 52.9 |
| 17 | Xona Space Systems | 59.2 | 61.8 | 33.4 | 36.4 |
| 18 | Muon Space | 59.0 | 60.4 | 41.9 | 38.8 |
| 19 | Amca | 58.5 | 57.3 | 25.3 | 52.0 |
| 20 | HawkEye 360 | 58.3 | 59.1 | 39.8 | 41.4 |
| 21 | ZeroAvia | 57.4 | 58.7 | 45.5 | 37.0 |
| 22 | BRINC Drones | 57.3 | 59.9 | 39.5 | 32.9 |
| 23 | Inversion | 56.9 | 53.2 | 42.6 | 56.5 |
| 24 | Hidden Level | 56.5 | 58.1 | 35.2 | 37.6 |
| 25 | K2 Space | 56.4 | 60.6 | 37.7 | 26.4 |
*GFD’s Tech100 score is a final composite score of the Funding Score, Website Score, and the Branded Keyword score.
Key Takeaways:
- The three hottest aerospace firms in August 2025 are Anduril Industries, Rocket Lab, and Planet due to the volume and freshness of their funding, the recent performance of their website, and the growth trends of their branded keyword.
Ranking the Top Startups by Funding Score
Funding is huge. This breakout highlights those firms that have raised the most venture capital rounds, ranked by a combination of date and volume. Note we are also including post-IPO raises as well. These are worth considering because they’re all part of the competitive system that all aerospace startups are competing in.
| Ranking | Company | Total Funding Amount | Most Recent Funding Amount | Last Funding Date | GFD Funding Score* |
| 1 | Anduril Industries | $6.19B | $2.50B | 6/5/2025 | 83.0 |
| 2 | Rocket Lab | $1.98B | $750M | 9/15/2025 | 80.9 |
| 3 | Planet | $1.03B | $460M | 9/9/2025 | 76.5 |
| 4 | SpaceX | $11.78B | $10M | 9/10/2025 | 76.3 |
| 5 | Joby Aviation | $2.43B | $250M | 5/27/2025 | 73.8 |
| 6 | Apex | $522M | $200M | 9/12/2025 | 72.3 |
| 7 | Wheels Up | $1.92B | $332M | 11/14/2024 | 71.2 |
| 8 | Impulse Space | $525M | $300M | 6/3/2025 | 68.7 |
| 9 | Hadrian | $476M | $150M | 7/17/2025 | 67.9 |
| 10 | Chaos | $490M | $275M | 4/30/2025 | 67.6 |
*GFD’s Funding Score captures funding volume and velocity by combing total funding with recent funding amount and recency.
Key Takeaways:
- When accounting for funding volume and freshness, Anduril Industries leads the industry as it is not just an aerospace firm, but a defense technology company. It has recently in June received a funding amount of $2.5B
- SpaceX, Joby Aviation, and Hadrian have become promising firms in the aerospace industry as all have received over $500M in funds within the past year.
- All but one of our top ten aerospace firms have received large funding amounts in the past year, indicating that the industry is being heavily invested in.
1. Anduril Industries
GFD Funding Score*: 83
Total Funding Amount: $6.19B
Most Recent Funding Amount: $2.50B
Days Since Last Funding: 119
Out of our 64 ranked aerospace companies, Anduril Industries ranks #1 in funding. The company’s total funding is $6.19B and the last time they were funded was on June 5, 2025 for $2.50B. The last funding type was Series G. The total amount of investors that Anduril Industries has is 47 and their top investors are: Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, BlackRock, Lightspeed Venture Partners, 8VC.
2. Rocket Lab
GFD Funding Score*: 80.9
Total Funding Amount: $1.98B
Most Recent Funding Amount: $750M
Days Since Last Funding: 17
Out of our 64 ranked aerospace companies, Rocket Lab ranks #2 in funding. The company’s total funding is $1.98B and the last time they were funded was on September 15, 2025 for $750M. The last funding type was Post-IPO Equity. The total amount of investors that Rocket Lab has is 16 and their top investors are: Bessemer Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, BlackRock, Trinity Capital, Vector Capital.
3. Planet
GFD Funding Score*: 76.5
Total Funding Amount: $1.03B
Most Recent Funding Amount: $460M
Days Since Last Funding: 23
Out of our 64 ranked aerospace companies, Planet ranks #3 in funding. The company’s total funding is $1.03B and the last time they were funded was on September 9, 2025 for $460M. The last funding type was Post-IPO Debt. The total amount of investors that Planet has is 36 and their top investors are: BlackRock, International Finance Corporation, Google, Founders Fund, Lux Capital.
GFD Website Score Breakdown
Website traffic and traffic growth is important but doesn’t always line up perfectly with other attributes and events like funding. We were curious as to which of these companies saw the strongest website traffic and growth. The website score we captures the volume of recent website visits and combines it with the companies’ website growth trends.
| Ranking | Company | Last Month Total Visits | Average Visits (6 Months) | Monthly Visit Growth | GFD Website Score* |
| 1 | SpaceX | 3.3M | 2.3M | 139.07% | 62.7 |
| 2 | Wheels Up | 746K | 158K | 1096.29% | 59.5 |
| 3 | Anduril Industries | 424K | 391K | 19.28% | 53.4 |
| 4 | Planet | 336K | 413K | -30.86% | 51.5 |
| 5 | BLADE | 240K | 287K | -11.86% | 50.8 |
| 6 | Reflect Orbital | 147K | 66K | 107.97% | 49.7 |
| 7 | Firestorm | 59K | 15K | 272.26% | 46.9 |
| 8 | Epirus | 48K | 27K | 186.59% | 46.8 |
| 9 | Stoke Space | 51K | 32K | 133.86% | 46.6 |
| 10 | ZeroAvia | 25K | 12K | 375.65% | 45.5 |
*GFD’s Website Score captures the volume of recent website visits and combines it with the companies’ website growth trends.
Key Takeaways:
- SpaceX is the industry leader in terms of website visits as it has on average over 2.3M visitors in the last six months.
- From August to September of 2025, two aerospace companies that have seen extreme growth are WheelsUp and ZeroAvia.
1. SpaceX
GFD Website Score*: 62.7
Last Month’s Total Visits: 3.3M
Monthly Average Visits Over 6 Months: 2.3M
Monthly Visit Growth: 139.07%
Out of our 64 ranked aerospace companies, SpaceX ranks #1 in website traffic. Last month, the website saw 3.3M total visits and increased by 139.07% from the month before that. The average visits over the past 6 months were 2.3M.
2. Wheels Up
GFD Website Score*: 59.5
Last Month’s Total Visits: 746K
Monthly Average Visits Over 6 Months: 158K
Monthly Visit Growth: 1096.29%
Out of our 64 ranked aerospace companies, Wheels Up ranks #2 in website traffic. Last month, the website saw 746K total visits and increased by 1096.29% from the month before that. The average visits over the past 6 months were 158K.
3. Anduril Industries
GFD Website Score*: 53.4
Last Month’s Total Visits: 424K
Monthly Average Visits Over 6 Months: 391K
Monthly Visit Growth: 19.28%
Out of our 64 ranked aerospace companies, Anduril Industries ranks #3 in website traffic. Last month, the website saw 424K total visits and increased by 19.28% from the month before that. The average visits over the past 6 months were 391K.
Aerospace Startups with Strongest Branded Search Growth
A great way to measure brand growth is by analyzing keyword growth for the company across a period of time. We sourced Google Search keyword data for companies on the list and ranked by a score that accounted for total keyword search as well as search volume change over the last year.
| Ranking | Company | Total Keyword Search Volume | Average Monthly Search Volume Change (1 Year) | 1 Year Trend Positive or Negative? | GFD Company Keyword Ranking* |
| 1 | Planet | 1.2M | 20209.79 | + | 66.4 |
| 2 | Apex | 1.0M | 13076.92 | + | 65.1 |
| 3 | Chaos | 673K | 9975.52 | + | 63.1 |
| 4 (tie) | Inversion | 246K | 332.17 | + | 56.5 |
| 4 (tie) | Wheels Up | 135K | 5024.48 | + | 56.5 |
| 6 | Albedo | 246K | -769.23 | – | 56.1 |
| 7 | Rocket Lab | 165K | 1470.28 | + | 55.1 |
| 8 | Lumo | 110K | 3006.99 | + | 54.5 |
| 9 | Joby Aviation | 74K | 2786.71 | + | 53.3 |
| 10 | Axiom Space | 27K | 2693.71 | + | 53.1 |
*GFD’s Branded Keyword Ranking is a metric that combines monthly branded keyword search volume with a 1-year linear trend that is observed weekly and adjusted by search volume.
Key Takeaways:
- Planet is the fastest growing branded keyword with an average monthly search volume increase of about 20k searches.
1. Planet
GFD Branded Keyword Score*: 66.4
Total Keyword Search Volume: 1.2M
Average Weekly Search Volume Change: 20209.79
Out of our 64 ranked aerospace companies, Planet ranks #1 in branded keyword searches. Last month, their total branded keyword search volume was 1.2M. Over the course of the last year, the average monthly change for their branded keyword search volume was 20209.79, indicating an increase in their 1-year trend.
2. Apex
GFD Branded Keyword Score*: 65.1
Total Keyword Search Volume: 1.0M
Average Weekly Search Volume Change: 13076.92
Out of our 64 ranked aerospace companies, Apex ranks #2 in branded keyword searches. Last month, their total branded keyword search volume was 1.0M. Over the course of the last year, the average monthly change for their branded keyword search volume was 13076.92, indicating an increase in their 1-year trend.
3. Chaos
GFD Branded Keyword Score*: 63.1
Total Keyword Search Volume: 673K
Average Weekly Search Volume Change: 9975.52
Out of our 64 ranked aerospace companies, Chaos ranks #3 in branded keyword searches. Last month, their total branded keyword search volume was 673K. Over the course of the last year, the average monthly change for their branded keyword search volume was 9975.52, indicating an increase in their 1-year trend.
Methodology and Sources
- Methodology: We collected data for 10k+ companies from Crunchbase and aggregated it into a set of scores through the use of quantitative transformations and expertly curated weighted averages.
- Sources: Crunchbase and Google Trends
