nuclear-news

Inside Europe’s only nuclear unicorn — and its €1bn fundraising hopes

Sifted, Kai Nicol-Schwarz 1 Mar 24

UK-based Newcleo could make the first close as soon as April — but the startup wants to raise €billions more by the end of the decade

UK-based unicorn Newcleo is on a mission to raise €1bn in equity this year.

The nuclear energy startup is developing small modular reactors (SMRs) fuelled with radioactive waste, and the first close could come as soon as April, founder and CEO Stefano Buono tells Sifted. 

If it lands the round, the raise will be the second largest in the nuclear sector globally — and the largest, by some way, in Europe. 

It’s piqued the interest of European governments increasingly keen to shore up their energy sovereignty in the face of climate change and Russia’s war in Ukraine — and of investors (including the French government), who’ve written cheques to the tune of €400m since the startup launched in 2021.

But if Newcleo is to achieve its lofty ambitions, it’ll need billions more by the end of the decade.

The startup plans to complete a research facility in Italy by 2026, as well as a fuel processing plant and a demonstrator reactor in France by 2030. And that’s before it launches its first revenue-making commercial reactor — possibly in the UK, says Buono — sometime after 2033 and then — eventually — deploys a fleet of its reactors across Europe. 

To get there, it will need to find big cheque investors with the patience of saints and convince governments to cough up their nuclear waste…………………………………………………………………………………….

Can Europe’s nuclear sector raise the billions it needs?

While funding in Europe has shot up over the past few years, bringing the region’s fourth-generation reactors to market will require tens of billions more. 

Newcleo alone will need to invest €3bn in France by 2030 to build its fuel processing plant and a 30MW demonstrator reactor. And that’s all before it builds a commercial reactor — “possibly” in the UK, says Buono — which it hopes to have completed by 2033. 

While several companies have raised megarounds in the US — since 2021, deals like Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ $1.8bn, TerraPower’s $750m and Helion Energy’s $500m have rolled in — the sector has hit funding troubles in the past year. 

Startup reactor plans have fallen through and huge deals have collapsed as rising interest rates, inflation and the nuclear industry’s poor record of delivering projects on time have dented investor confidence, the FT reported in December…………………………..

Newcleo hopes to raise from family offices, high net-worth individuals and institutional investors. Existing backers include US VC Exor Ventures, the investment vehicle of the Agnelli family office — founder of Italy’s largest carmaker Fiat, Italian investor Azimut Group and Italian tech transfer fund LIFTT.

And for future fundraises, Newcleo could look to tap public funds in the form of tax credits too, says Buono…………………………

And then there’s the small matter of convincing investors to part with €1bn during a downturn.  https://sifted.eu/articles/newcleo-1bn-fundraise

March 3, 2024 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, EUROPE