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As the nuclear power gold rush enters into full swing — spurred by AI companies’ desperate need for electricity — the sellers of “picks and shovels” are starting to cash in, too.
By the end of 2025, nuclear startups had raised $1.1 billion, all for small modular reactors. The deal flow is now extending to those critical suppliers in the nuclear industry. And Standard Nuclear, which makes nuclear fuel to feed those reactors, is one of them.
The company said it has raised $140 million in a Series A round led by Decisive Point with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Chevron Technology Ventures, Crucible Capital, Fundomo, StepStone Group, Washington Harbour Partners, Welara, and XTX Ventures.
The round was completed in two tranches of $70 million each after Standard Nuclear hit milestones sooner than expected in the wake of President Donald Trump’s nuclear-related executive orders last year, a company spokesperson told TechCrunch.
The new round comes seven months after Standard Nuclear emerged from “stealth” with $42 million in funding. Air quotes are required here; Standard Nuclear is built on the ashes of the Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC), which went bankrupt in October 2024. The bankrupt company had been working to commercialize a nuclear fuel called TRi-structural ISOtropic particle fuel, or TRISO, for years. Decisive Point’s founder, Thomas Hendrix, bought USNC’s fuel-related assets in the bankruptcy auction for $28 million.
TRISO fuel was originally conceptualized in the 1950s. Uranium particles about the size of a poppy seed are coated in ceramic and carbon. Those are then packed into larger spheres. Altogether, the design of the fuel pellets is supposed to be more resistant to melting down.
TRISO isn’t widely used today. And yet, many nuclear startups say they’ll be using TRISO in their reactors. Standard Nuclear has said it has $100 million in non-binding sales for 2027. Its customers include Radiant Energy, another Decisive Point portfolio company, and Nano Nuclear Energy, which bought USNC’s reactor assets.
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Standard Nuclear’s years of experience could put it in the lead. But if nuclear startups can’t deliver large numbers of reactors on the timelines they’ve promised — they all face steep challenges in scaling manufacturing — Standard Nuclear could, just like its predecessor, find itself too far ahead of the puck.
