Bluecore Energy closed a $50 million seed round Monday to finance an audacious bet: nuclear reactors mounted on floating barges, moored miles offshore, supplying clean power to ports and data centers via subsea cable. The Long Beach startup's haul, led by Silverton Partners, includes a $10 million pre-seed raised in July and came together in eight weeks with backing from investors ranging from Slauson & Co. and Harlem Capital to actor Kevin Hart's HartBeat Ventures and "Shang-Chi" star Simu Liu's Markham Valley Ventures.
Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, who participated in the pre-seed round, joined alongside Collab Capital, MaC Ventures, Precursor Ventures, LMNT Ventures, Visible Hands VC, and individual investors from Tesla, Uber, Amazon, and Google, according to Axios.
The company's pitch centers on a compact light-water reactor designed to churn out roughly 10 megawatts of continuous electricity, enough to run a small industrial facility or supplement power-hungry AI infrastructure. The reactors would operate for years between refuelings, perched on barges positioned well beyond coastal views and cooled by seawater, SiliconANGLE reported in early September.
Whether the concept can navigate the thicket of nuclear regulation, public anxiety, and maritime logistics remains an open question. But Bluecore has moved quickly since CEO Kofi Asante founded the company in January 2026. By late July, the startup had already stationed its first barge and an electric test reactor at its headquarters inside the Port of Long Beach, according to a company press release.
Asante came to nuclear energy by way of autonomous vehicles and freight logistics. He spent time at Uber's Advanced Technology Group, helped launch Uber Freight's Powerloop initiative, and worked at Elroy Air, which builds autonomous cargo aircraft. "Six months ago, we were building the foundation," he told SiliconANGLE in September, a timeline that underscores how quickly capital has flooded into nuclear startups chasing data center contracts.
The team includes licensing lead Megan Moyette, who served 13 years as a U.S. Navy nuclear submarine officer and was among the first women in that role, and controls lead Andrew Phillips, who logged eight years at SpaceX working on Falcon, Dragon, and Starship.
Regulatory Green Lights
Federal agencies appear willing to accommodate the experiment. The Port of Long Beach inked a memorandum of cooperation with the U.S. Maritime Administration on July 22 to explore small modular reactors for maritime use, MARAD announced. A day later, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission updated its coordination framework with the Coast Guard for maritime nuclear projects, according to an NRC webpage dated July 23.
California environmental filings show the company secured roughly 10,000 square feet of warehouse space at Berth D48, 6,000 square feet of submerged land for mooring, and permission to build a non-fueled prototype onsite. A notice of exemption under the California Environmental Quality Act, filed July 17, specifies that nuclear-specific testing will take place at Idaho National Laboratory.
"There is no better place to launch the next generation of zero-emission maritime energy than the world's first Green Port," Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said in the July release. Port CEO Noel Hacegaba struck a similar chord in August remarks to the Los Angeles Times: "Yesterday's energy system won't power tomorrow's port."
The Funding Details
An SEC Form D filed September 4 disclosed a $21.81 million offering under Rule 506(b), reflecting part of the $50 million seed fundraising, with $19.41 million sold to 24 investors by the August 20 first-sale date. The company declined to share its valuation.
Proceeds will fund engineering and hardware development, testing, regulatory work, manufacturing, hiring, and nuclear fuel purchases, Bloomberg Law reported in early September. The careers page listed openings for a senior electrical engineer, chemistry controls lead, fuel lifecycle lead, reactor operations lead, and mechanical engineer, among other positions, as of mid-September.
A Crowded Emerging Field
Bluecore isn't alone in the race to put reactors on water. UK-based CORE POWER signed a collaboration with the Port of Corpus Christi in August and announced a MARAD cooperation framework targeting construction by 2028. Denmark's Seaborg is pursuing a similar floating-barge approach.
The market opportunity hinges on two converging pressures: ports seeking to decarbonize heavy equipment and AI companies desperate for reliable, carbon-free electricity to feed expanding data centers. Asante told Axios in September that while Long Beach remains the priority, the company has fielded inquiries from other ports and data center operators, a sign that interest in alternative power sources runs deeper than a single geography.
Whether floating nuclear reactors become a maritime staple or a footnote in the energy transition will depend on execution, regulation, and public acceptance. For now, Bluecore has capital, a test site, and a roster of backers betting the approach can scale.
