California-based microreactor developer Valar Atomics raised $1 billion in a Series B financing round led by Sequoia Capital, the company said Tuesday.
Additionally, the nuclear startup secured a $200 million credit facility and added Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire to its board of directors, according to Valar’s press release.
Valar is developing the Ward 250, a helium-cooled, tri-structural isotropic – or TRISO-fueled, high-temperature gas microreactor that, when commercial, would generate five megawatts of electricity. The company achieved criticality on June 18 and produced electricity July 1 at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab in Utah.
With the funding coming down the pipeline, Valar said it will “transform from demonstrating the operability of an integrated reactor system to producing fleets of them en masse.” The company said it plans to put forth funding towards manufacturing and fuel production to accelerate reactor deployment.
“Valar will not rely on outside suppliers for the fuel needed to deploy and operate,” Isaiah Taylor, Valar CEO, said in the release. “We will construct it ourselves in labs placed alongside the very reactors [where] that same fuel will run.”
Valar was founded in 2023. The company currently does not have a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license for its reactor design.