Who founded Hop Aero?

Hop Aero was founded by Jacob Balaj, Matija Milenovic in 2024.

Who are Hop Aero's investors?

Hop Aero's investors include Gaingels, Rebel Fund, StemAI VC, Y Combinator, AER, Alumni Ventures, Batch Ventures, Blast.Club and 10 more.

Where is Hop Aero headquartered?

Hop Aero is headquartered in Los Angeles, US.

Hop Aero

YC S26

Los Angeles, US · Founded 2024 · 6 employees · 18 known investors

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Hop Aero develops rocket-based cargo delivery systems designed to transport supplies to remote or contested locations at high speeds, primarily serving U.S. military and allied defense applications.

Advanced Manufacturing Deep Tech Defense Tech Space TechUnited States of AmericaAmerica / Canada

Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (S26)

Hop Aero was founded in 2024 by Jacob Balaj and Matija Milenovic.

Jacob Balaj CTOJacob Balaj has held integration and test engineering roles across multiple aerospace companies, including SpinLaunch, Masten Space Systems, Virgin Orbit, and SpaceX, where he worked on Falcon 9/Heavy systems and booster refurbishment processes. He previously served as avionics quality assurance engineer on MV-22 tiltrotors for the US Marine Corps.

Matija Milenovic Co-Founder & CEOMatija Milenovic holds an MS in Aerospace Engineering from KTH Stockholm. He founded Porkchop, developing electric propulsion systems for satellites that launched on SpaceX Transporter-3, and previously led engineering teams at Destinus working on supersonic unmanned systems and directed manufacturing operations in Ukraine.

Elizabeth NavaOffice \u0026 Operations Manager

Investors · 18

Gaingelslisted by GaingelsNew York · $200K – $500K

How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · official-page verification 2026-10 · Not right? Tell us

Rebel Fundlisted by Rebel FundSan Francisco · $100K – $5M

How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · official-page verification 2026-10 · Not right? Tell us

StemAI VClisted by StemAI VC$250K

How we know: StemAI VC's portfolio page · Not right? Tell us

Y Combinatorlisted by Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K

How we know: the Y Combinator directory · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us