The venture capital arm of Sharjah-based Crescent Enterprises has invested in US nuclear technology startup Aalo Atomics through a new fundraising round.
CE-Ventures participated in the $100 million series B funding round for Aalo Atomics, which was led by New York-based Valor Equity Partners.
The other companies involved in the funding round include US-based Fine Structure Ventures and Crosscut Ventures, as well as Germany’s Hitachi Ventures.
Aalo, set up in 2022, was selected by the US department of energy for fast-tracked testing of its advanced nuclear technology.
The funding will support Aalo in building its first nuclear power plant, aiming to reach zero-power criticality by July 2026, primarily to generate power for addressing the massive needs of AI data centres.
“The surge in AI adoption is driving unprecedented demand for reliable energy, and nuclear power can play a crucial role in meeting this demand with clean, scalable solutions,” said Sudarshan Pareek, senior vice president at CE-Ventures.
CE-Ventures has built a global portfolio of investments in early- to late-stage high-growth companies and select venture funds.
Matt Loszak, CEO, Aalo Atomics, said the startup now has the capital to build its first nuclear power plant, the Aalo-X, by next summer.
The International Energy Agency projects that global electricity demand from AI-optimised data centres will more than quadruple by 2030, with new-generation nuclear technologies providing clean energy for growth.
Masdar has taken six gigawatts from its $6 billion solar facility in the Abu Dhabi desert that was destined to produce 350,000 tonnes of green ammonia and is directing them to power new AI infrastructure instead, CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi told Bloomberg .
The Abu Dhabi renewable major’s decision to put green-hydrogen projects on ice and focus on data centres is a sign of shifting global dynamics as interest in sustainable fuel wanes and the race for artificial intelligence heats up, AGBI reported.