The round, led by Silverton Partners, includes substantial continued participation from existing investors Slauson & Co, with participation from Harlem Capital, Precursor Ventures, LMNT, Visible Hands VC, Karman Ventures, Chris Larsen, co-founder of Ripple, Capital Factory, Share VC, X&, Markham Ventures, and Hartbeat Ventures. The round also includes new investors, MaC Ventures, Collab Capital, Vanderbilt, Scribble, Fortson, Borusan, Symphony Ventures, Act One Ventures, Animal Capital, Black Angel Group, Rackhouse Ventures, including Simu Lu firm Markham Ventures, Kevin Hart’s firm Hartbeat Ventures, Joel Embiid, NBAYoungboy, Malik Monk, Taijuan Walker, and a group of strategic angel investors who are former leaders at Tesla, Uber, Amazon, and Google.
Bluecore Energy said the financing represents a significant expansion of its initial USD10 million pre-seed round announced when the company emerged from stealth on 21 July.
Since emerging from stealth, Bluecore Energy has continued to build on its established headquarters and development operation inside the Port of Long Beach, California, secured its first barge, continued development of its first maritime nuclear energy system, and advanced its work with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the US Coast Guard.
Bluecore Energy’s initial 10 MWe system is being developed to power the equivalent of about 15,000 homes or scale to meet the power needs of a major port. Designed to be fuelled once for years of operation, the reactors can be paired together for scale to provide a new power source for ports, utilities, data centres, offshore infrastructure, and communities facing energy constraints.
The company has already secured and delivered its first barge and electric test reactor to its headquarters at the Port of Long Beach and is developing and testing components of its system as it advances its engineering, regulatory, classification, and commercialisation pathways.
“The new financing will support continued engineering and hardware development, testing and validation, regulatory and classification work, manufacturing, hiring and advancement of Bluecore Energy’s first system toward deployment,” the company said.
“Six months ago, we were building the foundation,” said Bluecore Energy founder and CEO Kofi Asante. “Today, we have the capital, the team, the hardware, and some of the most important institutions in nuclear and maritime working alongside us. Our focus now is simple: create and deliver zero-emission energy as safely and quickly as possible.”
In July, the Port of Long Beach and the US Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration entered into a first-of-its-kind memorandum of cooperation to explore maritime energy systems, including potential integration of SMRs, resilient port microgrids, shoreside power infrastructure and advanced vessel propulsion technologies.
