The nuclear company is adopting an old approach to build new nuclear reactors. Instead of obtaining a new design or trying to make smaller reactors, wants to develop a series of reactors using existing designs.
The two -year -old startup announced a series last month led by Eclipse with the participation of Civ, Goldcrest Capital, McJ Collective, True Ventures and Wonder Ventures, thought he did not reveal the amount collected. Now, Techcrunch learned that the company has obtained $ 51.3 million in a series A, which carries the total financing of the company to $ 70 million.
The nuclear company was founded in 2023 by three series entrepreneurs: the former CEO of Appharvest Jonathan Webb, the CEO of Arcadia, Kiran Bhatraju, and the CEO of Civ, Patrick Maloney. The beginning is to prioritize sites that already have permits or licenses to operate. Less of boxing sites fall under that rubric, according to the fairy of the combined operational licenses and the first permits of the site in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
In sites that are closest to innovative, each can withstand reactors with more than 1 Gigavatio of generation capacity. The nuclear company aims to develop 6 gigawatts in its first fleet.
The financing round comes as companies and technological public services are struggling to ensure energy for data centers. The demand for electricity in the United States is expected to increase almost 16% by 2029, according to network strategies, after years of stable consumption. Data centers are a great controller; Its use of electricity could quadruple at the end of the decade.
Faced with the possible energy shortage, technological companies have to accumulate with new nuclear companies and developers. Google is working with Kairos to build 500 megawatts in small modular reactors (SMR), while Amazon participated in a massive round of $ 700 million to finance X-Energy SMR plans. Meta has plug developers proposals to build up to 4 gigawatts of generation capacity, and Microsoft is working with Constellation Energy to restart a reactor in Three Mile Island.
But nuclear energy faces winds against, both expected and unexpected. The competition of solar energy is among the former: technology companies and data centers have been obtaining the capacity of solar farms, signing considerable agreements. These farms are frequently combined with mass batteries to provide electricity 24/7. Technology is economical and new projects can be developed in around 18 months.
Nuclear can also face other financial obstacles. This week, the Media Committee of the House of Representatives published its draft reconciliation bill that would kill the nuclear energy subsidies granted under the inflation reduction law. Nuclear power plants are currently eligible for tax credits of up to $ 15 per Megavatio-Hora.
It is not expected that most of the new nuclear plants, including those of the timeline of the nuclear company, connect until the early 2030. Since the forecasts over the next five years vary greatly, the mass nuclear plants that enter into service within a decade could be stuck holding the bag.
Update: Details of fundraising of the series at the end were added and the total amount of financing.