Zeno Closes $20M Series A to Commercialize Radioisotope Power Systems
Zeno Power, a developer of next-generation radioisotope power systems, today announced the closure of its Series A funding at $20M. Tribe Capital led the round with participation from DCVC, 1517 Fund, AIN Ventures, and Pallas Ventures.
The Company also announced two key additions to its Executive Team – Timothy A. Frazier as Senior Mission Director and Lindsey R. Boles as Vice President of Engineering.
Technology and Growth
Zeno is developing next-generation radioisotope power systems (RPS) – compact nuclear batteries that provide a steady supply of clean energy for years at a time. With ambitions to be the first advanced nuclear technology to market, Zeno will enable previously unimaginable capabilities in power-hungry environments – such as in space and undersea. The Series A funding will be used to demonstrate Zeno’s first-of-a-kind nuclear prototype and significantly grow its technical, supply chain, regulatory, and business development teams.
Currently, operations in austere environments – such as in space or undersea – rely on short-lived or intermittent power sources. As a result, power serves as a mission inhibitor, rather than a mission enabler. While long-endurance, resilient RPSs are used to enable marquee government missions, such as NASA deep space probes, the technology has historically been prohibitively expensive or heavy for broad commercial adoption.
Using 21st Century materials science and manufacturing innovations, Zeno has redesigned the RPS from the ground up – resulting in affordable and lightweight RPSs relative to legacy systems. Additionally, Zeno is using a relatively abundant isotope as a fuel source, and as a result, the company has the ability to immediately scale production of the RPSs to meet the demand of commercial and government customers in the near future. Zeno has already received multiple contracts for use of its technology in space and undersea environments.
Arjun Sethi, Co-Founder and Partner, Tribe Capital, stated, “Zeno has accomplished in the last few years what private industry has failed to do for decades: build a small, affordable and lightweight power source to produce the energy required for critical missions in outer space and the deep sea. Zeno’s technology offers significant advantages compared to traditional nuclear technologies and a scalable power output for each application.”
Additionally, Zeno is announcing the closure of a $5M Venture Debt deal with Mercury Bank. Zeno is proud to be one of the first companies to establish a credit facility with Mercury, and plans to utilize this capital to accelerate its technology development and manufacturing capabilities.