5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed: Floating Nuclear Power, Robot Report Cards And Voice AI For Farmers
Crunchbase News — this is a monthly column that runs down five interesting startup funding deals that may have flown under the radar. Check out our previous entry here.
From putting nuclear reactors on barges to grading how well AI models can control robots, this month’s crop of interesting startup deals takes AI and other emerging technologies well beyond the conventional software stack. Other companies that caught our eye are applying automation to the decidedly old-school worlds of building-material procurement, commercial property maintenance and farm recordkeeping. Let’s take a closer look. $50M to put nuclear power at sea Nuclear power plants are famously difficult and time-consuming to build. Bluecore Energy thinks putting them on barges could offer another way. The Long Beach, California-based startup raised what it says was an oversubscribed $50 million seed round led by Silverton Partners, just two months after emerging from stealth with $10 million in pre-seed funding. The long list of investors in the deal included Slauson & Co., Harlem Capital, Black Angel Group, HartBeat Ventures and others. Bluecore is developing compact, water-cooled small modular reactors designed to operate aboard floating barges. Rather than spending years constructing a new power plant and the accompanying infrastructure on land, the idea is to manufacture the systems and move them to where electricity is needed. “Our focus is simple. Create and deliver zero-emission energy as safely and quickly as possible,” CEO and founder Kofi Asante wrote in a social media post. “Over 3 billion people live within an hour of water. We want to power them all.” Its first target is the Port of Long Beach, with other ports and power-hungry AI data centers among the potential customers. The company says it’s working with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and U.S. Coast Guard as it pursues certification.
