A nuclear startup founded by a 27-year-old high school dropout is in talks to raise $1 billion at a $5 billion pre-money valuation, with Sequoia Capital reportedly set to lead the round.
Valar Atomics, founded in 2023 by Isaiah Taylor, is negotiating the new financing round just days after achieving what the nuclear industry calls criticality: a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction that generated electricity at its test site in San Rafael, Utah, on July 14, 2026.
From $130M to $5B in under a year
Valar Atomics raised a $130 million Series A in November 2025. A subsequent round valued the company at roughly $2 billion. Now, the pre-money valuation sits at $5 billion, and the company is seeking $1 billion in fresh capital.
The startup’s core technology is a factory-built, helium-cooled high-temperature gas reactor: a modular nuclear unit built in a controlled factory environment, then shipped to wherever power is needed, independent of the traditional electrical grid.
