Nuclear Turbines, a Manchester-based startup that recently emerged from stealth, has raised £15m ($20m) in a foundational funding round. The investment was led by IQ Capital, alongside participation from Rhapsody Venture Partners, Zero Carbon Capital, and Empirical Ventures.
The company, spun out of BAE Systems’ Launchpad initiative in 2024, was founded by former BAE principal engineer Jeremy Owston and nuclear engineer Professor Tim Abram, in partnership with Empirical Ventures’ venture studio.
The startup is attempting to bypass traditional small modular reactor (SMR) limitations by replacing massive, expensive steam turbine systems. Instead, they are integrating a compact reactor architecture with highly efficient high-temperature turbine technology, similar to that found in jet engines and gas-fired power plants.
The company plans to use this capital to advance and validate the reactor design, build large-scale test rigs, and expand the team as the company prepares to manufacture its first fuel elements.
By eliminating steam infrastructure, the modules are ultra-compact. They are designed for “behind-the-meter” deployment to directly power high-energy infrastructure such as data centres, manufacturing hubs, and industrial facilities. According to EU-Startups, the capital will be used to validate the reactor design, construct large-scale test rigs, expand the workforce, and prepare for the manufacturing of its initial fuel elements.
“The nuclear industry has always designed reactors first, then figured out what to do with the heat. We flipped this script: we started with the cheapest way to generate power and designed a reactor to fit,” said co-founder Jeremy Owston. “If we’re serious about reindustrialising while meeting climate goals, we need energy that’s clean and cheap. We’ve created the only tech that solves both, from the UK.”
Nuclear Turbines says that conventional SMRs were the first step towards making nuclear smaller, faster to deploy, and more adaptable. It now aims to take this technology to the next level by solving fundamental cost and scale challenges.
With UK electricity prices among the highest in Europe, Nuclear Turbines notes that the UK needs huge amounts of low-carbon power to meet its clean energy targets. However, conventional nuclear power plants cost tens of billions of dollars and take decades to build. The company claims that the scale and cost-efficiency of its technology will make advanced nuclear power accessible and attractive to private finance, accelerating its deployment in energy-intensive sectors currently dependent on fossil fuels.
“This is the first time I’ve seen an SMR design that genuinely solves the economic and sustainability equation, and it’s at a time when market dynamics, government ambition and regulatory reform are creating unprecedented opportunity,” said Jordan Billiald, Principal at IQ Capital. “Nuclear Turbines is perfectly positioned to capture that opportunity and to make sure the UK is not left out of the global nuclear race. With its deep engineering and nuclear heritage, the UK has a real right to win in this space, and Nuclear Turbines is the kind of company the UK venture ecosystem needs to back.”
