A nuclear startup just raised $50 million before it has fueled a reactor or generated a single watt of commercial electricity.
Bluecore Energy, which plans to mount small modular reactors on floating barges, closed an oversubscribed seed round on September 8, 2026. Silverton Partners led the round, which closed in just eight weeks and pushed the company’s total disclosed funding to $60 million. What makes this raise stand out is not just its speed but where the company sits and the sheer novelty of its concept.
Bluecore has set up headquarters inside the Port of Long Beach, one of the busiest container ports anywhere in the United States. Investors from Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen to Kevin Hart’s HartBeat Ventures piled in alongside angel backers from Tesla, Uber, and Google.
The company has no operating reactor, no NRC certification, and no commercial customer yet, making the speed of commitment all the more striking. For a company that did not exist nine months ago, the fundraising pace is setting a new benchmark in the nuclear energy startup space.
Bluecore Energy’s oversubscribed seed round closed in eight weeks
The $50 million seed came together faster than Bluecore’s founder anticipated, fueled by strong demand from existing investors and entirely new backers.
Kofi Asante left his position at an electric ship company in January 2026 to launch Bluecore and did not expect to raise again so quickly. Investors from the $10 million pre-seed, led by Slauson & Co. in July, kept pushing to increase their stakes, TechCrunch reported.
“I just kept having to figure out a way to make more room” on the cap table. — Kofi Asante, Founder and CEO, Bluecore Energy (TechCrunch)
New capital came from Collab Capital, MaC Ventures, and Act One Ventures, SiliconANGLE reported. NBA players Joel Embiid and Malik Monk also joined the round, Forbes reported.
Austin Clements of Slauson & Co. called Asante the first Black founder of a U.S. nuclear energy company, Yahoo Finance reported.
Floating nuclear reactors are Bluecore Energy’s big bet at Long Beach
Bluecore’s concept centers on small modular, water-cooled nuclear reactors mounted on barges that can be moved wherever energy demand is highest.
The initial design targets approximately 10 megawatts of continuous electrical output, enough to power roughly 15,000 homes or a large port facility. Reactors are designed to run for years between refueling cycles and can be paired together for additional scale, the company said on its website. Bluecore became the first nuclear company headquartered inside a major U.S. port after signing an agreement with Long Beach in July, Forbes reported.
Dr. Noel Hacegaba, the port’s chief executive, described its electrification future as requiring “hundreds of megawatts of energy” on Bluecore’s website. The company launched two floating barges by September 2026 and started formal NRC and Coast Guard engagement in August to pursue design certification.
Bluecore Energy enters a crowded nuclear startup field with a maritime twist
Private capital has been flooding into land-based small modular reactor companies for the past two years, but Bluecore is chasing a maritime approach.
X-energy raised over $1.4 billion in private funding before completing a $1.02 billion Nasdaq IPO in April 2026, while microreactor maker Radiant closed a $350 million Series D. Federal investment in advanced nuclear has exceeded $10 billion since 2020, with over $4 billion flowing through the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, SMR Intel reported. Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have all made significant commitments to nuclear power recently, with SMRs central to their long-term energy strategies, VanEck noted.
Bluecore’s distinction is that it aims to skip the fixed-site infrastructure problem by floating its reactors to ports and energy-starved coastal communities. Asante confirmed the company has secured barges and a reactor and is preparing to order nuclear fuel through a national laboratory partnership, TechCrunch reported.
Key facts about Bluecore Energy’s $50M seed round
- Seed round total: $50 million, oversubscribed, led by Silverton Partners
- Timeline to close: Eight weeks
- Total funding raised: $60 million, including $10 million pre-seed from July 2026
- Reactor capacity: Approximately 10 megawatts of continuous electrical output
- Key investors: Slauson & Co., Harlem Capital, Chris Larsen, Collab Capital, HartBeat Ventures
- Regulatory status: Formal NRC and U.S. Coast Guard engagement began August 2026
What Bluecore Energy still needs to prove with $60M in the bank
The fresh capital will fund continued product development, regulatory work, nuclear fuel purchases, and hiring across engineering and operations, TechCrunch reported. Asante identified supply chain constraints as the biggest challenge ahead, noting that his team is applying strategies from their SpaceX, Rivian, and Toyota backgrounds. Megan Moyette, the company’s licensing and safety lead and a former Navy nuclear submarine officer, described NRC and Coast Guard engagement as “encouraging,” SiliconANGLE reported.
The $50 million seed round positions Bluecore Energy as one of the first well-capitalized entrants in the floating nuclear power space. Dr. Noel Hacegaba, chief executive of the Port of Long Beach, confirmed that the port’s zero-emission transition will require entirely new technology approaches. Bluecore’s ability to secure nuclear fuel, clear regulatory review, and convert inbound interest into binding contracts will define whether $60 million becomes a floating power plant.
