Valar Atomics pursues $1 billion round at $6 billion valuation to power AI data centres

Valar Atomics, a California‑based startup developing small modular nuclear reactors, is in talks to raise a $1 billion equity round that would value the company at roughly $6 billion. Venture firm Sequoia is expected to lead the financing, following a prior $450 million raise that set a $2 billion valuation.

The company recently demonstrated its 100‑kilowatt Ward250 reactor supplying electricity to an Nvidia AI chip, marking the first startup‑built reactor to power AI compute in the United States. Valar is partnering with Nvidia on a proposed near‑zero‑water, 30‑megawatt data centre in Utah, targeting the twin constraints of firm power supply and water scarcity that face AI‑driven data‑center expansion. Backers include Palmer Luckey, Shyam Sankar and other technology investors.

These developments position Valar as a potential source of clean, reliable power for the rapidly growing AI infrastructure market, addressing the looming electricity shortfall for future data‑centre growth.