Surges in Private Investment: A trend of increasing private investments in nuclear is taking hold. In 2022, NuScale Power completed their merger with Spring
These pressures drive a new trend — private industry interest in new nuclear energy deployments to power data centers and steel manufacturing. Data giants like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are looking for new, clean, firm power sources, such as nuclear energy, to meet rising demand from data centers. In June 2023, Microsoft partnered with Constellation Energy to provide 35% of the power for a data center in Boydton, Virginia and invested in fusion startup Helion, intending to provide power by 2028. More traditional manufacturing companies see promise in nuclear reactors to provide reliable energy and heat for industrial operations in a way other clean technologies do not. The bottom line is private companies across various sectors recognize the importance of 24/7 clean energy, and the potential role nuclear can play in decarbonizing the industrial and commercial sectors while meeting the challenge of rapid load growth. Traditionally, nuclear energy deployment has been top-down and utility-led, but today, power-hungry private industries may serve as the demand driver for new nuclear power.
Per Crunchbase data, both funding and deal volume for the space hit a high last year, and 2026 is off to a promising start as well. The deal is a long time coming for TAE, which was founded in 1998 and is the oldest operating venture-backed fusion energy company in the Crunchbase dataset. Nuclear fission is another hot area for investment, with over $2.5 billion in funding last year, per Crunchbase. Activity looks to be accelerating further this year, with more than $270 million in funding, including a $140 million round two weeks ago for Tennessee-based Standard Nuclear, which manufactures advanced nuclear fuel for new reactors. Other SPAC deals have also popped up, including One Nuclear Energy, which wants to develop energy parks with small modular reactors to meet data center demand, and Hadron Energy, a developer of light-water micro-modular reactors. Over 127,000 workers at U.S.-based tech companies were laid off in mass job cuts in 2025, per a Crunchbase News tally, and the layoffs have continued...
Private equity and venture capital investments in advanced nuclear companies reached $783.3 million in 2024, 13x the 2023 total.
Nuclear power is also gaining more support from policymakers and investors given its ability to promote energy security and energy independence. We believe
--- In This Issue Full issue Nuclear Japan Prepares to Restart Unit at World’s Largest Nuclear Power Plant Nuclear Bulgarian Group Has Deal to Build Up to Six BWRX-300 SMRs Nuclear X-energy, Doosan Lock In 16-Unit Xe-100 Component Reservation as Doosan Commits to New SMR Factory Nuclear Trump Media Group, Fusion Company TAE Merging in $6-Billion Deal Trends Advanced Nuclear Developers Raise New Capital as 2025 Investment Hits Record Levels and Demonstrations Near See more stories * NuclearThea Energy Completes Fusion Power Plant Preconceptual Design * Data CentersUtah Groups Look at Nuclear Options to Power World’s Largest Data Center Site * NuclearBWRX-300 SMR Reaches Regulatory Milestone in UK * NuclearThe Uranium Renaissance: Revitalizing America’s Nuclear Supply Chain * NuclearNuclear Startup Announces Kansas Site for Mile-Deep Reactor Pilot * NuclearA First for Military Nuclear Power: TRISO Fuel Arrives at Project Pele * Research and DevelopmentINL Taps AWS, GE Vernova, Oil Majors for First MARVEL Microreactor Experiments * NuclearFramatome Selected to Deliver Critical Digital Control Upgrades at Columbia Generating Station * NuclearAntares Raises $96 Million in Series B Funding to Accelerate Nuclear Microreactor Development * NuclearDOE Selects TVA, Holtec to Receive $800 Million to Advance SMR Deployment * NuclearChina’s Molten Salt Reactor Reaches Thorium-Uranium Conversion Milestone * Top PlantFlamanville 3: Europe’s Hard-Won Nuclear Milestone * NuclearOn the Steam Side of Nuclear Energy * Top PlantShimane 2 Highlights Progress in Japan’s Nuclear Restart Program * Data CentersNuclear, Natural Gas Power Generation Planned for Massive New Mexico Data Center Site --- **Series B.** Companies are “now ready to scale,” SVB says, and “this stage of venture capital supports actual product manufacturing, marketing and sales operations.” While Series A investors measure potential, SVB notes that “for Series B, they’ll want to see actual performance and evidence of a commercially viable product or service.” Common Series B investors typically include venture capitalists, corporate venture capital funds, family offices, and late-stage venture capital funds.
This report argues that a new project-based financing approach anchored by new private equity sponsorship is necessary to help mitigate the
A nuclear power plant as an investment is fundamentally no different to that of any large infrastructure project: it is characterised by high upfront capital costs and a long construction period, followed by a lengthy payback period – and it will be financed, typically, by a mix of debt and equity. Among electricity generation technologies, the cost of finance is particularly important for the overall economics of nuclear power plants due to the profile of the capital expenditure. Securing competitive financing for nuclear power plants (as well as other low-carbon technologies) in deregulated markets is often therefore contingent on the use of mechanisms that, in effect, provide long-term stabilisation of electricity prices. In the UK, where direct procurement by the government has been ruled out since the privatization of the electricity supply system, the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Act 2022 established a framework for financing nuclear power plants using a regulated asset base (RAB) model.