- Shanghai startup completed three funding rounds within a year of its founding
- Company targets commercialization of small modular reactors as AI drives demand for stable power
Weilan Nuenergy (蔚蓝支点), a Shanghai-based developer of small modular nuclear reactors, has raised several hundred million yuan across three consecutive tranches of financing, highlighting growing investor interest in advanced nuclear technologies as AI fuels a surge in global electricity demand.
The startup recently completed angel, angel-plus and pre-Series A rounds of financing, with InnoAngel Fund and Lightspeed-affiliated Luminous Ventures co-leading the financing.
Other participants included CDH Investments, Northern Light Venture Capital, Vertex Ventures China, Bairui Capital and a corporate venture arm of an undisclosed top-tier internet company.
The proceeds will support technology development, team expansion and integration with China’s established nuclear supply chain.
One of the hottest investment themes
Weilan Nuenergy’s rapid fundraising marks one of the most significant financing rounds in China’s emerging SMR sector.
Additionally, it signals rising investor confidence that advanced nuclear technologies could play a larger role in powering the next generation of computing infrastructure.
Driven by overseas energy-security concerns and a surge in domestic AI infrastructure spending, nuclear fusion has become one of China’s hottest investment themes.
The sector has attracted growing interest from technology companies, energy majors and venture capital firms, which view fusion as a potential long-term power source for the next generation of AI computing.
Pressurized water reactor
Founded in 2025, Weilan Nuenergy focuses on the commercialization of small modular reactors, or SMRs. Founder Hu Po graduated from Tsinghua University’s nuclear engineering program and has spent more than two decades in the industry, including work on China’s flagship “China Advanced Passive PWR 1400 MW,” or CAPP1400, reactor project.
The company has assembled a team of more than 10 chief-engineer-level experts covering reactor core design, nuclear island systems, fuel technology, mechanics, instrumentation and control.
Weilan Nuenergy has opted to develop a pressurized water reactor, or PWR, one of the most mature nuclear technologies in operation today.
PWRs account for roughly 70% of active SMR designs worldwide and benefit from established regulatory frameworks and supply chains.
Commercialization in 3-5 years
The company expects to commercialize its technology within three to five years, positioning itself to serve the rapidly growing energy needs of AI infrastructure.
Data-center electricity demand continues to climb as AI training and inference workloads expand. Global data-center power consumption is projected to rise 26% in 2026, while electricity use by AI-optimized servers is expected to jump 84%, according to Gartner.
Major technology companies have increasingly turned to nuclear power to secure long-term energy supplies. Google, Microsoft and Amazon have collectively signed about $74.5 billion worth of nuclear-energy agreements, underscoring growing confidence in nuclear power as a reliable source of carbon-free electricity for AI operations.
