Bluecore Energy announced Tuesday an oversubscribed $50 million seed round \u2014 just months after raising a $10 million pre-seed and coming out of stealth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As TechCrunch previously reported<\/a>, the company, founded earlier this year<\/a> by Kofi Asante, builds small nuclear reactors (SMRs) on floating barges, rather than fixed locations, to generate clean energy for ports and nearby infrastructure. This means that energy can be transported to wherever it is needed, an idea Asante hopes can bring clean power to those who need it most.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Navy is doing this as we speak, for the last 70 years, and has never had an accident,\u201d Asante said about the use of portable technology in a new interview with TechCrunch. \u201cWe just made it smaller, so you can actually move things around in a way that doesn\u2019t take years\u201d \u2014 or a new set of infrastructure \u2014 \u201dbut days.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Asante wasn\u2019t planning on fundraising this year, but calls kept coming after their pre-seed launch. Many of their pre-seed investors, including Slauson & Co., Harlem Capital, and Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, doubled down on this new round, with new capital coming from investors like Collab Capital, Kevin Hart\u2019s HartBeat Ventures, and angel investors from Tesla, Uber, Amazon, and Google. Silverton Partners led this new seed round, and it took eight weeks to close.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI just kept having to figure out a way to make more room\u201d \u2014 on the cap table, Asante said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t anticipating us raising that level of capital in that period of time, but really fortunate that we have so many investors and partners who are excited.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n When it emerged from stealth in July, it became the first nuclear company headquartered at a major port: the Port of Long Beach. It has since launched two floating barges and has struck a partnership with the Department of Transportation Maritime Division, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and the U.S. Coast Guard. Bluecore Energy is now undergoing review with the NRC and the Coast Guard on its product design, which, if successful, will lead to certification of its floating nuclear power plant. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have been talking to them both since the inception of the company and design, but officially started the formal engagement in August,\u201d Asante said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The fresh capital will fund continued product development, regulatory work, nuclear fuel purchases, and hiring. Asante anticipates the biggest challenge to be the supply chain, securing hardware to build the right portable electricity infrastructure at a pace that can match consumer demand. He said that Bluecore Energy has seen inbound interest from \u201cmultiple ports, AI data centers and communities that need clean energy and water.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur team comes from SpaceX, Rivian, and Toyota, so we are applying similar strategies to be able to secure critical parts,\u201d he said. \u201cWe already have barges and a reactor and are now about to order nuclear fuel to go to our partner at a national nuclear lab.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n It all goes back to the core mission, Asante said, \u201cto democratize access to clean energy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy philosophy is that access to clean energy and also clean water should be a human right,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n