Move over, crypto. Silicon Valley's hottest money is flowing into nuclear energy, and the celebrity investor class is suddenly very interested in floating reactors.
According to TechCrunch, Bluecore Energy raised $50 million in a seed round less than a year after launch. Kevin Hart's HartBeat Ventures joined the round, along with Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, who increased his stake from the pre-seed, and angel investors from Tesla, Uber, Amazon, and Google. That's venture capital meeting pop culture.
Founded by Kofi Asante this year, Bluecore Energy builds small nuclear reactors on floating barges rather than fixed land-based plants. The reactors can serve ports and data centers, portable clean energy for the infrastructure that demands it. AI data centers consume enormous amounts of electricity, and the appeal is immediate.
Hollywood money flowing into hard-tech startups shows a shift in how celebrities and their advisors deploy capital. Hart and his peers are not investing in another streaming platform or social app, they're backing the unglamorous but essential infrastructure of energy production.
The speed is striking. Asante told TechCrunch he wasn't planning to fundraise this year, but investor calls kept coming. The $50 million close took eight weeks from first conversation. Pre-seed backers including Slauson & Co. and Harlem Capital increased their positions. Silverton Partners led the round.
The company is now headquartered at the Port of Long Beach, the first nuclear startup with a major port as its home base, and has launched two floating barges. It is navigating design certification with the Department of Transportation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and U.S. Coast Guard. The regulatory process is real.
The challenge is supply chain. Building portable nuclear infrastructure at scale while demand rises from ports, AI data centers, and energy-hungry communities requires solving a complex logistical problem that could determine whether the entire thesis works.
Hart, Larsen, and Tesla's angels are betting their money on it. Floating nuclear barges may become standard infrastructure, right alongside data centers and renewable portfolios.
