Nuclear energy startup X-energy raises $1 billion in data center-based IPO

Nuclear energy startup X-energy raised $1 billion in its initial public offering yesterday, selling 44.3 million shares for $23 per share, a huge premium over the price of $16 to $19 per share it was seeking. Initially, the company was hoping to raise about $800 million.

The stock is expected to begin trading on Friday on the Nasdaq under the symbol XE.

X-energy builds small modular reactors capable of generating electricity or delivering heat for industrial processes. The company has a deal with Dow to provide heat and power for a chemical plant in Texas and another with Amazon to sell up to 5 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2039. Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund led X-energy’s Series C-1 round.

Nuclear startups like X-energy have been boosted by growing demand for electricity from data centers and other parts of the economy that have been electrified.

The company says its reactors will generate 80 megawatts of electricity. Each Xe-100 reactor is cooled by helium gas, which flows over billiard-ball-sized “gravel” and is filled with BB-sized TRISO fuel pellets. Triso fuel, which has a uranium core wrapped in carbon and silicon, was developed years ago to be safer than current fuel designs, although it has not been widely used. X-energy says its fuel can withstand higher temperatures, which helps hold the fuel in place and reduces the possibility of melting.