Aalo Atomics raised $100 million in a Series B round in August 2025, led by Valor Equity Partners with participation from 50Y, Alumni Ventures, Crescent Enterprises, Crosscut, Fine Structure Ventures, Gaingels, Harpoon Ventures, Hitachi Ventures, Kindred Ventures, MCJ, NRG Energy, Nucleation Capital, Perpetual VC, Tishman Speyer, and VamosVentures. This brings total funding to $133 million, comprising a $27 million Series A in 2024 and a $6.26 million seed round in 2023.

Aalo Atomics manufactures factory-built nuclear power plants, known as Aalo Pods, which occupy the footprint of a few tennis courts and provide 50 megawatts of electricity to data centers and industrial facilities. Each Pod integrates five identical 10-megawatt sodium-cooled reactors that share a single turbine generator, forming a modular system designed for mass production and truck transport.

The reactors utilize low-enriched uranium fuel embedded in a metal hydride matrix, based on the Department of Energy's open-source MARVEL design. Liquid sodium coolant circulates through the reactor core at atmospheric pressure, eliminating the need for high-pressure water systems and large containment structures typical of conventional nuclear plants. Heat from the sodium is transferred to a compact steam generator, which powers a standard turbine.

The safety system is passive, requiring no active controls. In the event of a power loss, the sodium coolant continues to circulate naturally, while the fuel expands and automatically halts the nuclear reaction. The system operates without external water sources, relying instead on air-cooled condensers. Fuel cartridges are engineered for five-year operational cycles and can be replaced quickly, avoiding extended outages.

The factory-based manufacturing process enables Aalo to produce reactor modules, turbine skids, and shielding components in a 40,000-square-foot facility in Austin. These components are shipped in approximately 60 containers. Installation involves placing the modules onto pre-poured concrete pads and connecting the systems using standard bolted connections, with a targeted completion timeline of weeks rather than years.

Aalo operates as a vertically integrated nuclear power company, managing the entire value chain from reactor manufacturing to electricity generation. The company manufactures reactors at its Austin factory, installs them at customer sites, and sells electricity through long-term power purchase agreements rather than selling the reactors outright.

This model generates recurring revenue from electricity sales while allowing Aalo to retain control over operations, maintenance, and fuel supply. Customers receive 24/7 carbon-free power without the complexities of owning nuclear assets or navigating regulatory requirements. The business-to-business approach focuses on hyperscale data center operators, colocation providers, and industrial facilities requiring reliable baseload power at competitive prices.

The factory-based manufacturing strategy achieves economies of scale that traditional site-built nuclear plants cannot match. Standardizing the design and production process reduces both construction costs and deployment timelines. The modular architecture enables customers to begin with a single 50-megawatt Pod and scale capacity incrementally as their power demands increase.

Revenue is primarily derived from electricity sales, priced competitively with natural gas and renewable energy alternatives. The company also plans to supply process heat for industrial applications, with potential expansion into hydrogen production and other energy-intensive manufacturing processes requiring high-temperature thermal energy.

Westinghouse markets its eVinci microreactor as a nuclear battery, utilizing its established fuel supply chain and global service network to deliver integrated power solutions. The 5-megawatt heat pipe reactor targets applications similar to Aalo's but relies on Westinghouse's existing corporate infrastructure and nuclear expertise to build customer trust. Last Energy offers fixed-price power purchase agreements at $45 per megawatt-hour through mass-manufactured 20-megawatt pressurized water reactor modules, while also challenging NRC regulations to accelerate deployment timelines.

Oklo has obtained 750 megawatts in letters of intent from US data center operators and partnered with Vertiv to combine power generation with liquid cooling systems for AI workloads. Their Aurora fast reactor design may recycle high-assay fuel to lower operating costs, focusing on the same 15-50 megawatt market segment as Aalo. Ultra Safe Nuclear targets industrial heat applications with its 15-megawatt thermal reactor, while Radiant Nuclear focuses on edge computing and military applications with trailer-mounted 1.2-megawatt units, which could potentially expand into distributed data center markets.

In addition to nuclear competitors, Aalo competes with advanced geothermal companies and long-duration energy storage providers for 24/7 clean power contracts sought by hyperscale cloud providers. These technologies may offer shorter deployment timelines and face fewer regulatory barriers, though they often lack the energy density and reliability of nuclear power for large-scale AI training facilities requiring hundreds of megawatts of continuous power.

The Aalo Pod architecture allows for applications beyond electricity generation, including industrial process heat. The sodium coolant system operates at temperatures of 500-600 degrees Celsius, making it suitable for hydrogen electrolysis, chemical processing, and pulp and paper manufacturing. This capability aligns with the approximately $120 billion industrial decarbonization market, where demand exists for both electricity and high-temperature heat.

The company's first reactor will feature an experimental data center adjacent to the power plant, integrating power generation with computing infrastructure. This co-location model may develop into packaged power-and-computing solutions designed to reduce customer site preparation and interconnection complexity.

Hyperscale data centers are the initial target market, but Aalo's truck-transportable design also creates opportunities in remote government installations, mining operations, and island grids currently reliant on diesel generators. The Department of Defense's Project Pele and Arctic microgrid requirements represent a potential 2-3 gigawatt market for distributed nuclear power systems capable of operating independently from traditional grid infrastructure.

Heavy industry represents another potential market as manufacturers work to decarbonize energy-intensive processes. Aalo's ability to supply both electricity and process heat from a single installation could appeal to steel, cement, and chemical producers facing carbon pricing pressures and challenges related to renewable energy intermittency.

International markets offer scaling opportunities once Aalo demonstrates its technology in the United States. The company's Series B funding round included participation from Middle Eastern investors such as Crescent Enterprises, which could facilitate financing and regulatory pathways in regions with expedited nuclear permitting processes. The factory manufacturing model supports global scalability by enabling standardized reactor exports from a single production facility.

European and Asian markets are prioritizing energy security and carbon reduction, driving demand for distributed nuclear power solutions that do not rely on large-scale grid infrastructure. Countries including the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia have shown interest in small modular reactor technologies as part of their energy transition strategies.

Regulatory delays: Nuclear power projects involve complex licensing processes that have historically extended timelines and increased costs beyond initial estimates. Aalo is subject to the NRC's new Part 53 framework for advanced reactors, but delays in securing construction and operating licenses could postpone commercial deployment beyond the 2026 target. This would risk ceding first-mover advantages in the data center market to competitors.

Fuel supply constraints: Aalo's reactor design depends on high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel, which currently has limited production capacity in the U.S. The existing HALEU supply chain is heavily reliant on Russian sources, which are subject to geopolitical restrictions, while domestic production facilities remain under development. These supply constraints could hinder Aalo's ability to scale reactor deployments, even if manufacturing and regulatory challenges are resolved.

Market timing mismatch: Hyperscale cloud providers' current interest in nuclear power could diminish if alternative technologies, such as advanced geothermal or long-duration storage, achieve faster deployment and cost competitiveness. Data center operators prioritize power availability over specific generation methods, and delays in nuclear deployment could lead customers to commit to long-term contracts with competing clean energy sources, reducing Aalo's market opportunity.