Antares Raises $470M to Build Small Nuclear Reactors for U.S. Military Bases

Antares Nuclear said it raised $470 million to build small reactors for U.S. military bases. The Series C included $370 million in equity and $100 million in debt, and was led by Paradigm and Caffeinated Capital with participation from Industrious Ventures, Point72 Ventures, and Shine Capital.

The round signals continued investor interest in advanced nuclear startups as electricity demand rises from AI data center construction and broader electrification. TechCrunch reports that Antares has raised $604 million altogether, based on its analysis of PitchBook data.

Antares is developing a small modular reactor designed to produce between 100 kilowatts and 1 megawatt of electricity. TechCrunch notes that this output is enough to power up to 750 homes.

The reactor uses TRISO fuel, which encapsulates uranium in carbon and ceramic shells. Antares’ demonstration reactor, the Mark-0, reached criticality on June 4 at the Idaho National Laboratory.

Antares is one of three finalists in the Pentagon’s Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations program. That program will test small modular reactors on Air Force bases in Colorado and Montana.

The company aims to bring its first electricity-producing reactor online next year, with deployments at U.S. military installations planned for 2028. That timeline positions military customers as an early proving ground for the technology.

Advanced nuclear startups are attracting capital as power demand grows, but commercialization remains difficult. TechCrunch highlights hurdles including an immature U.S. supply chain and challenges with scaling production.

Many small modular reactor startups point to mass manufacturing as a way to reduce costs, but those benefits typically take at least a decade to materialize, and no startup has reached that stage yet. Antares has not disclosed pricing, while TechCrunch notes that early SMRs are expected to face cost-competitiveness challenges against most new power plants.