Where does Jacob Balaj work?

Jacob Balaj is Founder of Hop Aero.

Jacob Balaj

Founder

Founder at Hop Aero

Costa Mesa, California, United States

FoundedHop Aero · YC

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Ask Dan Hart to introduce you to Jacob

You →Dan · together at Virgin Orbit (2018–2020) →Jacob

Ask Jamie Chen to introduce you to Jacob

You →Jamie · 11 people · together at YC S26 →Jacob

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About

Jacob 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.

Founder at Hop Aero YC S26

Intro paths

Jacob went through Y Combinator (Summer 2026) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.

Their group partner at YC was Tyler Bosmeny, General Partner at Y Combinator — the partner who ran Hop Aero's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile ↗

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In turn, Jacob can intro founders to Hop Aero's investors below.

Hop Aero's investors · 17

AER Alumni VenturesManchester · $100K – $10M checks Batch Ventures Blast.Club$5.5M checks Founders FactoryLondon · $150K – $200K checks GaingelsNew York · $200K – $500K checks Initialized CapitalSan Francisco · $1M – $5M checks Lunar VenturesBerlin · $500K – $2M checks MasiaBarcelona · $135K – $270K checks Metsu Capital PioneerToronto, Ontario Rebel FundSan Francisco · $100K – $5M checks Rice CapitalCovina Sync.VC System.One Uncorrelated VenturesLas Vegas Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K checks · since 2026

Co-founders at Hop Aero

Matija MilenovicFounder

Experience

HopCo-Foundercurrent2024 — presentOrange County, California, United States
SupernalSystem Test and Evaluation2024
DZYNE TechnologiesVehicle Ground Check2023 — 2024
SpinLaunchSatellite Production and Test2022 — 2023
Masten Space SystemsLead Systems Integration and Test Engineer2020 — 2022Mojave, California, United States
Masten Space SystemsSystem Integration And Test2020 — 2022Mojave, California, United States
Virgin OrbitIntegration and Test2018 — 2020Long Beach, California, United States
SpaceXFinal Integration and Test/ Booster Refurbishment2016 — 2018Hawthorne, California, United States
United States Marine CorpsAvionics Quality Assurance2011 — 2016Okinawa, Japan - Jacksonville, North Carolina

Skills & more

edX Verified Certificate for Structured Database Environments with SQL — edX
edX Verified Certificate for Scripting with Python — edX

From Jacob's professional profile.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Jacob Balaj?: Jacob 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.
Where does Jacob Balaj work?: Jacob Balaj is Founder of Hop Aero.
What companies did Jacob Balaj found?: Jacob Balaj founded Hop Aero.