JetZero just pulled in $175M for its Series B, and if that number feels heavy, it should. Aerospace is not a hobby sport. It is gravity, physics, patience, and cash, in that order. Long Beach, CA has seen aircraft legends come and go, but this one feels different because JetZero is not chasing nostalgia. It is chasing math. Lift over drag. Fuel burn over ego. A blended wing that actually blends ambition with discipline.
Founded in Sept 2020, JetZero was never about building a prettier tube. Tom O’Leary brought startup muscle and commercial instincts sharpened at Tesla and BETA Technologies, while Mark Page brought 4 decades of aerodynamic scar tissue and brilliance, including co-inventing the modern blended wing body while most of the industry was still romanticizing aluminum cylinders. One speaks capital, scale, and market timing. The other speaks airflow like it is a first language. That pairing matters.
The Z4 is the thesis. Roughly 250 passengers, 9K+ km of range, and up to 50% lower fuel burn than today’s mid-market jets. Not because of magic, but because an airplane should fly like a wing, not a compromise. Pratt & Whitney PW2040 engines keep propulsion boring on purpose, which is exactly how certification teams like it. The excitement lives in the shape, the structure, and the math doing its quiet work at altitude.
B Capital led the round, joined by United Airlines Ventures, Northrop Grumman, 3M Ventures, and RTX Ventures. That is not tourist capital. That is demand, supply, and industrial reality all sitting at the same table. United Airlines is not just investing; it is holding a conditional path for up to 100 aircraft, with an option for 100 more, because airlines do not window shop for science projects. They shop for cost per seat mile and survivability in a carbon-constrained future.
This Series B pushes JetZero toward its full-scale demonstrator, backed by a $235M U.S. Air Force contract targeting first flight in 2027. The Pathfinder sub-scale aircraft already carries FAA airworthiness and has Edwards AFB runway beneath it. The roadmap is not theoretical. It is scheduled. It is staffed. About 225 people strong and growing inside a 285,000 sq ft Long Beach footprint that smells more like composites and coffee than pitch decks.
Then there is North Carolina. Greensboro. A $4.7B manufacturing vision near Piedmont Triad International Airport, built with Siemens digital manufacturing systems and a long view toward producing up to 20 aircraft a month. That is not optimism. That is industrial intent. Dan Da Silva came in as President & COO with Boeing miles on his odometer because scaling airplanes is different than dreaming them.
JetZero now sits north of $1B in total funding, contracts, and commitments. The real signal is not the money. It is the coalition. Airlines, primes, government, and engineers who have seen enough cycles to know when something has real lift. The name says JetZero, but the ambition is anything but zeroed out. This one wants altitude, efficiency, and a very long runway.
