The cash came from selling shares on the open market, not from operations, and the release is the company's first communication since it rebranded from biotech Hoth Therapeutics into AI infrastructure, space, and defense computing.
Rocket One, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKTO) reported approximately $8.4 million in cash and cash equivalents as of June 12, 2026, in a shareholder letter distributed via PR Newswire that is also the company's first communication as a rebrand of the former Hoth Therapeutics. That $8.4 million figure is the only line in the release a reader can verify against a public filing, and it came from a previously disclosed at-the-market equity program. Rocket One sold shares on the open market to fund itself, not from operations.
The release positions Rocket One as a participant in three of the most expensive categories in technology right now: AI infrastructure, space computing, and defense electronics. To support the claim, the company points to two exclusive license agreements signed on May 15, 2026, covering spintronic and nanomagnetic computing intellectual property developed at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Spintronic computing is a real research field that stores and processes information using the spin state of electrons rather than their charge. The licenses include all-spin matrix multiplication, an approach that performs the multiply-accumulate operations at the heart of neural-network inference without the data movement that burns power in conventional chips.
None of the release's structural details about those licenses are visible to a reader. Royalty rates, milestone payments, sublicensing rights, exclusivity scope, and the fields of use are not disclosed. The address on the release is Hoboken, New Jersey; SEC filings show the company at 720 Monroe Street, Suite E514, Hoboken, NJ 07030. The most recent Q1 2026 10-Q was filed May 15, 2026 and is not yet publicly accessible; the Q1 2026 filing is pending. The shareholder letter itself describes the cash figure as "approximate."
A May 19, 2026 press release from the Hoth/Rocket One transition period provides additional context. It identified the two licensed technologies: a nanomagnetic matrix multiplier intended as a hardware accelerator for machine learning and AI workloads, and a skyrmion-based spintronic memory technology with potential applications in radiation-tolerant computing for defense and space systems. The release noted that one of the licensed patents is a patent application that has not yet issued and may issue with claims narrower than currently sought. It also noted that Bayh-Dole Act provisions may affect government use rights and other limitations on the licensed technologies arising from federal research funding at VCU.
The advisory roster is verifiable independently. Dr. Supriyo Bandyopadhyay, named as Lead Technical Advisor for AI Nanomagnetic Technology, is a published spintronic and nanomagnetic computing researcher. Maj. Gen. Malcolm B. Frost (Ret.) and Col. Robert "Shane" Kimbrough (Ret.), added to a Space and Defense Advisory Board, are a former senior Army officer and a former NASA astronaut and ISS commander, respectively. None of those credentials, by themselves, establish that Rocket One has a working device, a foundry partner, a simulation result, a pilot customer, or revenue.
The legacy biotech program is still on the balance sheet in the form of HT-001, an EGFR-inhibitor-associated skin-toxicity treatment whose Phase 2 pharmacokinetic portion is complete and whose remaining Phase 2 work is ongoing. The company says it is evaluating strategic alternatives for the biotech assets, including partnership, licensing, joint venture, or asset sale, and has not announced a decision.
Read against the categories the release invokes, the gap is the story. A technology company announcing two exclusive licenses usually names the licensor, because the licensor's identity is the receipt that proves the deal. A company entering AI infrastructure usually names a customer, a contract vehicle, a benchmark, or a deployment. A company entering space and defense usually names a program office, a prime contractor, or a solicitation it is responding to. Rocket One's release names the cash, the licenses, the advisors, and the prior identity it is leaving behind. The VCU connection is disclosed in an earlier press release; the license terms are not.
The shareholder letter is dated June 15, 2026. The next independently verifiable artifacts to look for are the May 15, 2026 8-K disclosing the two license agreements and the Q1 2026 10-Q reconciling the cash figure. If those documents confirm the license scope, a named product, or a customer, the gap closes. If they do not, the $8.4 million is the whole story until the next release.