WASHINGTON — Zeno Energy, a venture-backed startup creating nuclear batteries for excessive environments, mentioned Could 14 it raised $50 million in Collection B funding to speed up its work in area and underwater power techniques.
The funding spherical was led by Hanaco Ventures and joined by area and defense-focused buyers together with Seraphim, Balerion House Ventures, JAWS, Vanderbilt College, RiverPark Ventures, Stage 1 Ventures, 7i Capital, Past Earth Ventures and others.
The corporate, headquartered in Seattle and Washington, D.C., mentioned the capital will fund growth of its workforce and manufacturing footprint because it goals to ship its first business nuclear battery by 2027.
Zeno’s flagship product, a radioisotope energy system — recognized within the aerospace and protection sectors as an RPS — converts the warmth from radioactive decay into usable electrical energy. The expertise has lengthy been utilized by NASA in deep area missions. Zeno is amongst a handful of personal corporations now racing to modernize and scale the strategy for broader deployment, together with army and business use instances.
“With nice energy competitors rising, the ocean flooring, Arctic, and lunar floor have gotten the entrance traces of worldwide safety and financial progress — however they continue to be power deserts,” mentioned Tyler Bernstein, Zeno’s chief government and co-founder. “With this spherical of funding, we’re on monitor to display full-scale techniques in 2026 and ship the primary commercially constructed nuclear batteries to energy frontier environments by 2027.”
Zeno’s gadgets are being developed to power unmanned systems the place photo voltaic, chemical, or combustion-based power sources fall quick — corresponding to in deep oceans, the Arctic winter, or the Moon’s two-week-long evening.
The corporate says it has secured over $60 million in authorities contracts from the Division of Protection and NASA, supporting prototypes for extremely maneuverable satellites, seabed infrastructure, and lunar landers. One present challenge entails a nuclear-powered satellite tv for pc backed by the U.S. Air Force, which Zeno plans to display in 2026.
The brand new spherical builds on a $20 million Collection A in 2022 led by Tribe Capital. Bernstein mentioned Zeno goals to develop its workforce to greater than 100 staff throughout its two places and spend money on manufacturing capability.
Because it scales up, Zeno is including army management to its board. The corporate introduced that retired U.S. Navy Admiral John Richardson, who oversaw the Navy’s nuclear fleet throughout his tenure as chief of naval operations, has joined its board of administrators.
“I’m proud to affix Zeno Energy at a strategic second for nuclear innovation,” Richardson mentioned. “Zeno’s nuclear batteries present protected, dependable, and long-lasting energy from the seabed to area, the place conventional power sources can’t attain.”
Over the previous three years, Zeno has made key technical strides, unveiling its first nuclear prototype at Pacific Northwest Nationwide Laboratory and securing Strontium-90 gas from the U.S. Division of Vitality. It additionally partnered with Westinghouse Electrical to provide the radioisotope warmth sources required to energy its techniques.
Within the business area sector, Zeno is collaborating with lunar robotics firm iSpace-U.S. to develop nuclear-powered techniques that may survive the acute chilly of the lunar evening. A expertise demonstration is deliberate for as early as 2027.
“Nuclear power is having a renaissance, and Zeno is on the forefront of bringing it to locations no different power can reliably go,” mentioned Lior Prosor, associate at Hanaco Ventures. “Zeno’s nuclear batteries can have a right away affect in protection and area, and long-term potential to remodel how power is delivered in distant and distributed environments.”
What are Radioisotope Energy Techniques?
Radioisotope energy techniques generate electrical energy by changing warmth from the decay of radioactive isotopes — usually Strontium-90 or Plutonium-238 — into electrical energy by way of thermoelectric turbines. Utilized by NASA because the Nineteen Sixties, RPS have powered missions like Voyager, Cassini, and the Mars Curiosity rover. In contrast to reactors, they produce no chain response, don’t have any transferring components, and are thought-about inherently protected and maintenance-free for long-duration missions.
Zeno executives predict that with fashionable supplies, automated manufacturing and business partnerships, RPS can go from a distinct segment authorities software to an enabler of off-grid energy for an age of geopolitical competitors and lunar commerce.
