Nuclear startup Valar Atomics has raised $1 billion in equity funding led by Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire, who will join the company's board, alongside a $200 million credit line from Erebor and other banks. The deal, confirmed by founder and CEO Isaiah Taylor on Monday, underscores growing investor appetite for small modular reactors (SMRs) as a faster, cheaper alternative to traditional nuclear plants, partly driven by soaring power demands from AI data centres.

While Valar did not disclose its valuation, Bloomberg reported it at $6 billion. The company, which in June demonstrated its Ward 250 reactor powering an Nvidia Blackwell system and struck a deal with Nvidia for a waterless 30MW AI facility, says the new funds will support manufacturing fleets of its reactors. Other backers in the round include Apandion Capital, Atreides Management, Conviction, Point72 Ventures and Valor Equity Partners. Valar joins a wave of well-funded nuclear rivals, including Antares ($470 million raised) and X-energy ($1 billion via IPO).