Maritime nuclear startup Bluecore Energy Inc. today announced a $50 million seed round, seven weeks after the company formally launched with $10 million behind a plan to mount small reactors on barges.

Most of the new capital will go toward getting its first system engineered, tested and licensed.

Bluecore is designing compact water-cooled reactors that sit on floating platforms and dock where grid capacity has run short. The first system is being designed to produce roughly 10 megawatts of continuous power and to run for years between refuelings, with further units added as demand grows. Ports, coastal infrastructure and artificial intelligence data centers are the intended customers, and the company has said it eventually wants to power cargo ships.

Since July the company has secured its first barge (pictured) and started formal regulatory engagement with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Coast Guard. The company is also developing a non-fueled reactor module prototype at the Port of Long Beach to validate monitoring, sensor and control systems.

The two agencies have a memorandum of understanding that coordinates requirements for the design, construction, operation and oversight of civilian floating nuclear plants and nuclear propulsion systems. The NRC has said existing federal frameworks can be used to license maritime reactors. Megan Moyette, Bluecore’s licensing and safety lead and a former Navy nuclear submarine officer who served 13 years, said both agencies have been at the table since the company’s first meeting and described the experience so far as “encouraging.”

“Six months ago, we were building the foundation,” founder and Chief Executive Kofi Asante said. “Today, we have the capital, the team, the hardware, and some of the most important institutions in nuclear and maritime working alongside us.”

The underlying reactor technology is not new. Light-water reactors have operated in the U.S. for more than 70 years and supply about 20% of the country’s electricity. Bluecore is applying that design to a much smaller system built from the outset for a moving maritime platform rather than a permanent land site.

The Port of Long Beach and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration signed a memorandum of cooperation in July to explore maritime energy systems, small modular reactors and shoreside power among them. Port Chief Executive Noel Hacegaba said the port’s 2050 vision anticipates electrification and rising energy demand that will run to hundreds of megawatts. Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson has also backed the project.

Bluecore’s staff includes former Navy nuclear submarine officers and engineers drawn from Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp., Toyota Motor Corp., Rivian Automotive Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc.

Silverton Partners led the round. Slauson & Co., Harlem Capital Partners, Precursor Ventures, LMNT Ventures, Visible Hands VC, Karman Ventures, Capital Factory and Share VC all returned, as did Markham Valley Ventures, where actor Simu Liu is a general partner, and Hartbeat Ventures, the firm co-founded by comedian Kevin Hart. New money came from MaC Ventures, Collab Capital, Symphony Ventures, Act One Ventures, Animal Capital, Black Angel Group and Rackhouse Ventures.

Investors have now put $60 million into the company.

Photo: Bluecore