Nuclear test program winners raising major funds
Illustration: Shoshana Gordon / Axios
The three nuclear startups that hit milestones for the DOE's test reactor program are raising or have recently closed big venture capital rounds.
Why it matters: VCs are looking for proof points as they rush to back a new wave of nuclear startups.
The big picture: Private investors realize there's a major opportunity in nuclear after seeing some of the public market exits, like X-Energy's IPO, which valued the company at over $9 billion.
State of play: The three startups — Antares Nuclear, Valar Atomics, and Aalo Atomics — that were able to hit the milestone of "criticality" by the program's deadline are closing large rounds.
- Antares announced Monday that it had raised $470 million in a Series C, co-led by Paradigm and Caffeinated Capital, and including Point72 Ventures, Shine Capital, and Industrious Ventures.
- Valar is in talks to raise $1 billion at around a $6 billion valuation, with Sequoia Capital in talks to lead the fundraising, per multiple reports.
- Valar's test reactor provided a trickle of power to an Nvidia AI chip, and the company has announced a partnership with Nvidia.
Axios Pro reported last year that Aalo Atomics was raising a $100 million Series B. The company's website now says it has raised over $300 million.
- Aalo investors include Valor Equity Partners, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Fifty Years and Fine Structure Ventures.
The intrigue: Many of these investors don't have a history of backing nuclear companies.
- That's partly because the sector is suddenly hot, and because for many years it was sclerotic, facing years of regulation and massive capex costs.
The big picture: Data center developers have been clamoring for clean electricity and have done deals with nuclear companies like X-Energy and Kairos Power.
- The Trump administration has been attempting to kickstart a nuclear renaissance, streamlining the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and developing the test reactor program.
Yes, but: Nuclear stocks have cooled in recent months from sky-high heights, potentially indicating the nuclear mania has already passed the peak of the hype cycle.
