Bluecore Energy has emerged from stealth with a $10m pre-seed funding round to address rising grid demands by deploying floating small modular reactors (SMRs) directly on mobile barges. The oversubscribed $10m round was led by Slauson & Co, with participation from Harlem Capital, Precursor Ventures, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, and actor Kevin Hart’s HartBeat Ventures. The round also includes angel investors who are former leaders at Tesla, Uber, Amazon, and Google.
The company, founded by former Uber Freight executive Kofi Asante, is the first SMR developer to establish its headquarters directly inside a major US shipping hub at the Port of Long Beach, California.
“Nuclear energy at sea is not a new idea,” said Asante. “Our opportunity is to take lessons from decades of maritime nuclear experience and combine them with modern engineering to build systems for a new generation of commercial applications. Many communities are struggling to get clean and reliable energy, so we are sprinting to make that happen. We’re already building and will continue to move quickly to bring safe, zero-emission, reliable energy to locations that need it.”
The startup is building a 10 MWe water-cooled reactor system. This compact layout is capable of powering roughly 15,000 homes or scaling up to match the operational footprint of a massive port facility. Based on established water-cooled technology packed into thick steel pressure vessels and shielded by concrete, the closed-loop system requires refuelling only once every few years.
Bluecore has already secured its first physical port terminal, a dedicated barge, and an electric test reactor pressure vessel to simulate water-flow cooling. The company has delivered its first barge and electric test reactor to its headquarters at the Port of Long Beach.
Aligning with the company’s launch, the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the Port of Long Beach signed a memorandum of cooperation. Alongside the Coast Guard and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), they will use Bluecore’s leased terminal to establish safety protocols, emergency zones, and operational standards for the future of commercial maritime nuclear energy.
Rather than spending over a decade building traditional land-based energy infrastructure, Bluecore’s mobile barge design can be towed and connected to coastal grids via subsea cables within days.
The system aims to isolate heavy energy consumers – such as AI data centres, industrial complexes, and ports – from local community grids. The long-term roadmap includes using these marine-assembled reactors to supply direct propulsion for massive commercial cargo ships, offering a pathway to fully decarbonise the global maritime supply chain.
“Our mission is simple: democratise access to clean energy,” said Asante. “Billions of people live near water, yet access to reliable power is still too often constrained by geography and existing infrastructure. We want to build a future where clean energy can go where it is needed.”
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson noted: “There is no better place to launch the next generation of zero-emission maritime energy than the world’s first Green Port. Long Beach has always been where global trade meets innovation, and today we’re becoming the place where the technologies that will power the future of the maritime economy are developed.”
The Port of Long Beach is one of the busiest container ports in the US, handling more than 9m container units and approximately $300bn in cargo each year. More than 90% of global trade moves by sea, while nuclear energy already provides approximately 20% of US electricity. Bluecore sees an opportunity to bring these two systems together in a new way.
“The world is entering a new era of energy demand,” said Asante. “Ports, industry, data centres, and critical infrastructure need more reliable power than ever before. We founded Bluecore Energy because we believe there is a better way to deliver it – one that builds on established nuclear engineering principles and brings energy directly to where it is needed.” He added: “My team and I took nuclear reactor technology that’s been running power plants safely for 70 years, made it smaller, and put it on a barge. A power plant that floats.”
The team brings together engineers and operators from programmes in aerospace, defence, automotive and maritime, including SpaceX, Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, Toyota, and Uber, alongside US Navy nuclear submarine officers and a licensing advisor who has certified multiple operating reactors with NRC.
“We have spent the better part of our careers looking for diverse founders who leverage their lived experience to build generational companies,” said Austin Clements, Managing Partner, Slauson & Co. “Kofi Asante is both. The first Black founder of a nuclear energy company in the United States, building a power plant that floats, at one of the biggest ports in the world, right in our backyard. This is exactly why Slauson exists.”
