X-energy Rides Nuclear Wave, Raises $700m Series D

Nuclear startup X-energy raised $700 cardinal successful a Series D found, nan institution told TechCrunch.

The caller fundraise comes little than a twelvemonth aft it expanded its Series C from $500 cardinal to $700 million, bringing nan full raised successful nan past twelvemonth aliases truthful to $1.4 billion, a sizable magnitude moreover successful nan heady world of atomic powerfulness startups. X-energy has raised $1.8 billion, to date.

X-energy said nan caller infusion will thief build nan proviso concatenation for its mini modular reactors (SMR). So far, nan startup says it has orders for 144 SMRs tin of generating 11 gigawatts of electricity. Customers see Amazon, Dow, and British power institution Centrica.

The caller information was led by Jane Street, which joined arsenic an investor successful nan expanded Series C. Other investors participating see Ares Management funds, ARK Invest, Corner Capital, Emerson Collective, Galvanize, Hood River Capital Management, NGP, Point72, Reaves Asset Management, Segra Capital Management, and XTX Ventures.

X-energy is processing high-temperature, gas-cooled reactors, a type much precocious utilized successful Japan and China. Each of its Xe-100 reactors tin make 80 megawatts of electricity, and they are fueled by billiard ball-sized, carbon-coated pebbles containing uranium particles. Inside nan reactor, helium state flows complete nan pebbles, collecting heat, which is transferred to a steam turbine to make electricity.

Like different atomic startups, X-energy has ridden a activity of liking from tech companies and information halfway developers.

Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund led nan first installment of nan startup’s Series C. The tech institution besides announced past twelvemonth it would bargain more than 600 megawatts of atomic capacity successful nan Pacific Northwest and Virginia, pinch nan reactors coming online successful nan early 2030s. Altogether, Amazon’s woody pinch X-energy could spot arsenic overmuch arsenic 5 gigawatts deployed by 2039.

X-energy is successful a title pinch several different SMR startups to resuscitate nan atomic manufacture successful nan United States. While galore of nan designs look promising, only a handful SMR powerfulness plants person been built to date, nary of which are successful nan United States.