Radiant Raises $40M Series-B from Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, and Decisive Point

Providing millions of times more energy per unit of mass than any other viable energy source on earth, nuclear fission is the most abundant renewable power source, and already accounts for 20% of electricity in the United States. While traditional nuclear reactors remain expensive investments primarily serving metropolitan grids, microreactors can power grids of all sizes and populations in all corners of the nation at any time, while ensuring energy independence and security through transportable, efficient, and cost-effective reactors.

Radiant is developing the first portable, zero-emissions nuclear reactor that works anywhere with no external infrastructure requirements. Radiant’s reactor, Kaleidos, can be used as a resilient backup, a primary power source at a remote fixed site, or as a mobile expeditionary power source, bringing affordable energy to hard-to-reach locations and communities without access to renewable energy sources. The company’s novel design allows for off-site rapid refueling of the reactor — in other words, when the reactor reaches the end of its life cycle, the entire reactor is replaced and safely transported to a refueling site rather than exposing a population to exposure from radiological materials during on-site refueling.

Led by CEO Doug Bernauer, Radiant is on track to have one of the first novel nuclear reactors approved and available on the commercial market since the 1970s. After over a decade at SpaceX as part of the team that developed the Grasshopper prototype, Hyperloop, and the Boring Company, Bernauer saw an opportunity to prove out the small nuclear reactor concept he was working on for use on Mars, and left to create Radiant in 2019. “In a world where you can just get a reactor designed and built on time and on budget, everything can change,” Bernauer says.

Decisive Point is proud to participate in Radiant’s Series-B round alongside Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund, supporting Radiant’s mission to offer a path to a cleaner, safer, and healthier country and planet.