Bluecore Energy has closed an oversubscribed $10 million pre-seed round to bring nuclear energy directly where it is needed most: port terminals, data centers, and cargo ships. The California-based startup, founded by Kofi Asante, has already delivered its first barge and first electric test reactor to its home base at the Port of Long Beach.
The concept is as straightforward as it is ambitious. Bluecore Energy mounts closed-cycle, water-cooled small modular reactors on 185-foot barges. The system heats water, transfers steam to a generator, and produces electricity. Once refueled — an operation required only every few years — the barge can sail to its next destination, eliminating transport-related emissions entirely. The initial configuration is designed to deliver 10 MWe, roughly equivalent to the power needs of about 15,000 homes, with multiple units stackable to supply an entire port or an AI campus.
In July, Bluecore Energy and the Port of Long Beach signed an agreement making the startup the first SMR company to be headquartered inside a major U.S. port. This is no minor footnote: the Port of Long Beach has set a target of becoming the world’s first zero-emission port by 2050, and sees Bluecore as a key piece of that roadmap. The agreement also includes the development of maritime reactor safety protocols in collaboration with the U.S. Maritime Administration.
Kofi Asante comes from a background far removed from nuclear engineering. He previously worked at Uber Freight, joined the launch team for Elroy Air’s autonomous hybrid-electric aircraft, and then moved to Arc, an electric vessel startup. He also served as a venture partner at Rackhouse Venture Capital. It was while working at Arc and observing the energy consumption patterns at the Port of Long Beach that the idea took shape. In January, he left his job and founded Bluecore Energy. The round was led by Slauson & Co., with participation from Harlem Capital and Precursor Ventures, among other investors.
Interest from data center operators adds a second concrete demand driver. Sixty-one percent of computing infrastructure developers plan to install on-site power generation when the local grid cannot meet the loads required by artificial intelligence workloads. Large AI models consume electricity at a scale that traditional grids struggle to supply reliably and without emissions. A nuclear barge moored close to a tech campus addresses that problem directly, without waiting years for new transmission infrastructure to be built.
If Bluecore can navigate the regulatory certification process and demonstrate operational reliability in a port environment, the floating nuclear barge format could become a globally replicable model. Ports, islands, remote military installations, coastal communities with limited grid access — the potential market is broad. The regulatory hurdle is real, but the fact that a startup has already secured a physical foothold inside a federal port and raised $10 million in a matter of months signals that investors and port operators alike consider the approach credible. The next milestone will be a full-scale technical demonstration.
