X-energy has officially closed its Series C-1 funding round, which was announced publicly in October when Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund and partners committed ~$500M. The grand total for the round is a whopping $700M, which is expected to go toward reactor development and licensing, building the TRISO-X fuel facility, and pursuing commercialization opportunities for the company’s SMR.
Amazon, Ken Griffin, affiliates of Ares Management Corporation, NGP, and the University of Michigan were the initial investors in this round. Making up the last ~$200M are new investors Segra Capital Management, Jane Street, Ares Management funds, and Emerson Collective.
The story so far: X-energy was founded in 2009 by Kam Ghaffarian, who has founded a series of advanced technology companies—including Axiom Space, which is working to build a commercial space station, and Intuitive Machines, which landed a craft on the Moon last year and will try again this month. Not a bad tech track record.
With X-energy, the goal is to deploy a high-temperature, gas-cooled SMR that uses a pebble-bed fuel design.
- The company’s flagship reactor design, the Xe-100, is designed to generate 80MW electric and 200MW thermal energy.
- These reactors are designed for modular configurations, scaling from 320 MW to 960 MW capacity per plant.
- X-energy plans to manufacture the fuel for these reactors and is developing a fuel fabrication facility called TRISO-X in Oak Ridge, TN.
Amazon’s backing: The tech giant’s interest in X-energy stems from its desperate need for additional energy capacity amid the AI boom. Amazon’s data centers require a power source with high uptime and consistency, making nuclear energy an ideal choice—plus the bonus of carbon-free generation.
Amazon is supporting X-energy’s deal with Energy Northwest to deploy four Xe-100 SMRs, totaling 320 MW of capacity, in Washington, with the option to expand.
What now? The $700M Series C-1 round will do a lot to get X-energy’s reactor design finalized and closer to the finish line of NRC approval. It’ll also support continued construction of the TRISO-X fuel facility.
Lead Reporter of Ignition
