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JetZero has secured up to $100 million in financing to support the continued build of its blended wing body (BWB) demonstrator Jet1 and a future manufacturing campus in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Proceeds from its senior secured term loan facility will also be used to accelerate technology maturation and support operations, the company said. It is targeting the first flight of Jet1 for the fourth quarter of 2027; the full-scale demonstrator was 40% complete, as of June 2026, at Northrop Grumman’s Scaled Composites in Mojave, California.
“This facility is targeted for pace,” JetZero CEO and Cofounder Tom O’Leary said on Aug. 31. “Through this facility, we will fund tooling and production facilities in North Carolina, advancing aerospace innovation and reindustrializing America.”
JetZero’s newly announced lender group has structured the facility around program milestones, it detailed. The group includes Pinegrove Credit Partners, backed by Brookfield and HRTG Partners, alongside Silicon Valley Bank.
“JetZero is moving from demonstration to production, and that transition is where capital structure matters most,” Pinegrove Partner Craig Caukin said. Together the lender partners “will be looking to expand the capacity of this facility when the opportunity presents itself,” he noted.
JetZero’s new financing builds on a recent agreement with the Export-Import Bank of the United States to explore up to $3 billion in potential support for manufacturing and test facilities. A groundbreaking ceremony for the Greensboro site took place in mid-June.
JetZero plans to make an engine selection for its Z4 production model over the next year and expects the 250-seat commercial BWB will enter service in the early 2030s.
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