Sequoia leads $1 billion round for Valar Atomics as the nuclear startup triples its valuation to $6 billion

TL;DR

Sequoia led a $1B Series B for Valar Atomics at $6B valuation (3x from $2B). Valar powered an Nvidia AI chip from a nuclear reactor in July. Now shifting to volume manufacturing. 30MW Utah facility planned.

Sequoia Capital led a $1 billion Series B for Valar Atomics, valuing the nuclear startup at $6 billion. That is three times the $2 billion valuation from its earlier round just months ago. Atreides Management, Point72, and Snowpoint Ventures also participated. Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire will join Valar’s board. The company also secured a $200 million credit facility.

Valar achieved its key milestone in July: using a nuclear fission reaction to produce enough electricity to power an Nvidia AI chip and host a website. It is one of four companies to start a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction this year. Valar and Nvidia are now planning a 30-megawatt nuclear-powered AI facility in Utah, the first commercial application of the partnership. TNW covered Valar’s $450 million raise earlier this year, when the company was valued at $2 billion and had just reached criticality with its helium-cooled microreactor.

“One reactor can be built as a project. A fleet has to be manufactured,” said CEO Isaiah Taylor. The $1 billion round is designed to fund that shift from demonstration to factory production. Small modular reactors are aimed at powering data centres, industrial sites, and military installations without drawing from the grid. None are in commercial service outside China and Russia. The idea is gaining traction as AI data centres strain electrical grids worldwide, but the industry is known for over-budget and delayed projects.

Valar’s reactor design uses a closed-loop cooling system that Nvidia says could cut facility water use from 2.6 million gallons per megawatt per year to near zero. Utah’s governor signed new data centre development rules in May after community backlash over water and power concerns. Nuclear-powered AI facilities that use no grid electricity and near-zero water address every objection that has stalled conventional data centre projects. Whether Valar can manufacture reactors at the speed and cost the AI industry demands is the question $1 billion is designed to answer.

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