Paradigm leads $470M Antares Nuclear funding round for military SMRs

Paradigm has led a $470 million funding round for nuclear startup Antares Nuclear, extending its capital into military-focused small modular reactors as the crypto venture firm continues investing across frontier technologies.

According to TechCrunch, the Series C financing includes $370 million in equity and $100 million in debt, with Caffeinated Capital co-leading the round and participation from Industrious Ventures, Point72 Ventures, and Shine Capital. 

The investment comes weeks after Paradigm closed its own $1.2 billion fourth fund, which the firm said would continue backing crypto while expanding into artificial intelligence, robotics, and other frontier technologies.

Paradigm has extended its frontier technology strategy

Fresh capital for Antares adds another example of how Paradigm is deploying money outside blockchain without stepping away from digital assets. On July 8, Paradigm announced a $1.2 billion fourth fund dedicated to crypto while also backing companies working in AI, robotics, aerospace, manufacturing, and other emerging technologies.

At the time, co-founder Matt Huang and managing partner Alana Palmedo said the firm would continue investing “first in crypto” while supporting founders building technologies that sit alongside advances in software and hardware. The firm cited companies including Zipline, SendCutSend, True Anomaly, and Nous Research as examples of investments beyond blockchain.

Antares now joins that expanding portfolio, giving Paradigm exposure to another industry that has attracted growing venture capital interest as electricity demand rises alongside AI infrastructure expansion.

Interest in advanced nuclear companies has accelerated over the past year as hyperscale data center construction and broader electrification have increased demand for dependable power generation. Venture firms have increasingly turned to startups developing advanced reactors capable of supplying electricity to industrial facilities, government customers, and computing infrastructure.

Antares Nuclear is targeting military reactor deployments

Founded to develop compact nuclear systems, Antares has built a small modular reactor capable of generating between 100 kilowatts and 1 megawatt of electricity, enough to supply power to roughly 750 homes.

According to TechCrunch, the company’s demonstration reactor, known as Mark-0, reached criticality on June 4 at Idaho National Laboratory, a milestone showing the reactor sustained a controlled nuclear chain reaction.

Rather than targeting commercial utilities first, Antares is pursuing U.S. government customers. The startup is one of three finalists selected for the Pentagon’s Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations program, which plans to evaluate small modular reactors at Air Force bases in Colorado and Montana.

If development remains on schedule, Antares expects to bring its first electricity-producing reactor online next year before beginning deployments at U.S. military installations in 2028.

The company’s reactor uses TRISO fuel, a technology adopted by several advanced nuclear developers. TRISO fuel surrounds uranium particles with multiple carbon and ceramic layers that are designed to contain radioactive material under high temperatures. The fuel can be paired with cooling systems that use gases such as helium or molten salts instead of conventional water-based designs.

Nuclear investment has grown alongside AI infrastructure

Antares’ latest fundraising arrives as investors continue directing capital toward companies developing advanced nuclear technologies.

According to TechCrunch, X-energy completed a $1 billion initial public offering in April, while Radiant Energy, Standard Nuclear, and Last Energy have each secured funding rounds exceeding $100 million since December.

Artificial intelligence has become one of the main drivers behind that investment activity. Large-scale AI models require data centers that consume substantial amounts of electricity, prompting technology companies and investors to search for additional power sources capable of operating continuously.

Paradigm has already identified AI as one of its priority investment sectors. When announcing its latest venture fund earlier this month, the firm said blockchain would remain central to its strategy while AI and robotics would become additional areas for new investments.

The firm also pointed to internal projects combining blockchain research with artificial intelligence. Among them are EVMbench, developed with OpenAI to evaluate AI agents for smart contract security, along with continued work on open-source blockchain infrastructure projects such as Foundry and Reth.

Viewed together, the Antares investment fits within the direction Paradigm outlined earlier this month, where crypto remains part of the firm’s strategy while capital is also being allocated to technologies supporting future computing infrastructure.

Commercial hurdles still remain for small modular reactors

Although investment activity has accelerated, commercial deployment of advanced nuclear reactors still faces several challenges.

According to TechCrunch, many developers continue dealing with limited domestic supply chains and the difficulty of scaling manufacturing. Several companies argue factory-built reactors will eventually lower production costs, but industry observers have said those manufacturing benefits typically take years to materialize.

The report cited analysis from Lazard estimating electricity generated by first-generation small modular reactors could cost about $214 per megawatt-hour, placing them above the cost of most newly built power plants except the highest-cost gas turbine facilities.