Nuclear startup X-energy has raised seven hundred million dollars in a Series D funding round. This new fundraise comes less than a year after the company expanded its Series C round from five hundred million to seven hundred million dollars. In total, X-energy has secured one point four billion dollars in funding over the last year, a substantial amount within the nuclear power startup sector. To date, the company has raised a total of one point eight billion dollars.
X-energy stated that this new capital will support the development of its supply chain for small modular reactors, known as SMRs. The startup reports it has received orders for one hundred forty-four of these reactors, which are capable of generating eleven gigawatts of electricity. Its customers include Amazon, Dow, and the British energy company Centrica.
The Series D round was led by Jane Street, which also joined as an investor in the expanded Series C. Other participants in the round include funds from Ares Management, 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 developing high-temperature, gas-cooled reactors, a design that has seen recent use in Japan and China. Each of its Xe-100 reactors can generate eighty megawatts of electricity. The reactors are fueled by billiard ball-sized pebbles coated in carbon and containing uranium particles. Inside the reactor, helium gas flows over these pebbles, collecting heat which is then transferred to a steam turbine to produce electricity.
Similar to other nuclear startups, X-energy is benefiting from a wave of interest from technology companies and data center developers. Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund led the first installment of the startup’s Series C round. Amazon also announced last year that it would purchase more than six hundred megawatts of nuclear capacity in the Pacific Northwest and Virginia, with the reactors expected to come online in the early 2030s. Altogether, Amazon’s agreement with X-energy could result in the deployment of as much as five gigawatts by the year 2039.
X-energy is competing with several other SMR startups to revive the nuclear industry in the United States. While many of the reactor designs appear promising, only a handful of SMR power plants have been built to date, and none of them are located in the United States.