Antares, a company developing advanced nuclear microreactors for military and space applications using high-efficiency compact reactor technology, has raised $470 million in Series C funding. These funds were secured through a combination of equity and debt capital.
The round was co-led by Paradigm and Caffeinated Capital with participation from several strategic investors. Additional participants included Point72 Ventures, Shine Capital, and Industrious Ventures, as well as other global institutional investment firms. The financing comprised $370 million in equity capital and $100 million in debt capital, designated for commercial expansion.
Antares plans to use the raised capital to transition from reactor demonstrations to full-scale commercial deployment across various markets. This funding follows a significant technical achievement by the company in nuclear reactor development this year.
Antares became the first private company to design a non-water nuclear reactor that demonstrated criticality after more than forty years. The Mark-0 reactor achieved this milestone at Idaho National Laboratory in the United States. The company intends to direct the capital toward developing its power-generating Mark-1 reactor, which is expected by 2027.
Furthermore, the funds will be used to improve manufacturing capabilities and processes, supporting existing defense clients under government programs. This includes work on the U.S. Air Force Advanced Nuclear Power Program initiatives. The funding also supports the U.S. Navy expeditionary energy program and related advanced energy projects.
Chief Executive Officer Jordan Bramble stated that Antares has successfully proven the concept of its innovative nuclear technology. He added that the company will now focus on preparing for commercialization and broader market adoption. The investments support collaboration with government partners in creating reliable energy systems that do not require refueling for six years.
Antares' compact nuclear microreactors are designed to provide continuous power supply in locations where traditional energy infrastructure is difficult to maintain. These systems target military bases and space applications requiring reliable long-term power. The company's reactors are designed to operate autonomously for years, reducing dependence on vulnerable fuel supply chains, which is becoming increasingly relevant as governments strive to create more resilient energy infrastructure for defense operations.
According to the company, the latest funding will help meet the deadlines set by Executive Order 14299, which requires an operational reactor on an inland military base by September 2028.
Investors cited Antares' recent engineering successes as a key reason for their support. Paradigm specifically highlighted the successful operation of the company's factory microreactor and its transition to large-scale deployment. Caffeinated Capital also noted Antares' progress in reactor development, client acquisition, and supply chain strategy. The firm believes that the company's focus on defense clients and long-term operational reliability positions it well in the growing advanced nuclear energy sector.
Founded in 2023, Antares has rapidly expanded its operations in locations such as California, Idaho, and South Carolina. The company develops nuclear energy systems capable of providing safe and sustained power for defense and strategic missions while reducing reliance on traditional energy sources.
Gritt has successfully raised $26 million in investments that will be used to scale infrastructure automation using artificial intelligence. Obvious Ventures led the round, with participation from Union Square Ventures, Active Impact Investments, and existing investors, including First Round Capital, Climactic, Congruent Ventures, and VSC Ventures.
With this new injection of capital, Gritt's total funding has reached $32.4 million. The company plans to use the acquired capital to expand its operations and further develop an intelligent robotic platform designed for complex outdoor construction environments.
Founded by Punith Puri and Vishal Dugar, Gritt develops robotic systems to automate construction equipment. Its AI-based system can autonomously perform tasks such as material handling, assembly, placement, inspection, and project planning. Gritt's technology integrates with existing equipment on sites, allowing contractors to apply automation to their machinery and ensuring safe collaboration between robots and humans.
CEO Punith Puri noted that automating outdoor construction is more complex due to changing weather conditions, terrain specifics, and other unforeseen factors. He emphasized that their 'Physical AI' is specifically designed for such tasks, enabling the acceleration of construction for solar, bridge, and road projects, as well as large infrastructure projects like data centers, with robot support.
The company's platform continuously improves through learning from every completed project. Tasks that previously required months of system setup can now be adapted in just a few days, allowing robots to perform high-precision work on various construction sites. In addition to automation, Gritt collects real-time data from sites, including information on completed work, material movement, and changes in site conditions. This information helps project managers make faster decisions and optimize schedules.
The company has already implemented its systems in several large American construction firms involved in industrial-scale solar panel installation. According to Gritt, their robots have independently installed tens of thousands of solar panels without a single failure. Demand for automation is supported by industry challenges: it is expected that over 40% of the US construction workforce will retire by 2031, and the sector's overall productivity is declining, forcing companies to turn to AI and robotics to solve labor shortages.
Obvious Ventures stated that Gritt is creating a new category of physical AI by implementing intelligent automation in one of the most demanding industrial environments. Investors believe that the company's ability to learn after each deployment gives it a long-term competitive advantage. Gritt's long-term goal is to transform AI into a comprehensive object condition analysis platform that tracks resource usage, identifies potential workflow obstacles, and assists project managers in making real-time decisions. Ultimately, the startup aims to reduce manual labor for construction workers and allow contractors to accelerate the implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects, believing that intelligent robotics will become an integral part of modern construction.
Natural has successfully raised $30 million in a Series A funding round. These funds are earmarked to accelerate the development of specialized payment infrastructure designed specifically for the needs of AI agents. The round was led by Forerunner, with existing investors continuing to provide support, bringing the company's total funding to over $40 million.
The investment came less than a year after the company's launch and reflects growing confidence that AI agents will increasingly participate in financial transactions. The new round attracted the attention of founders and executives from leading technology and fintech companies, underscoring significant industry interest in the emerging agent payments sector.
Natural was founded by individuals such as Kahlil Lalji, Eric Wang, and Walt Leung. The company is developing a specialized payment platform that enables AI agents to manage funds, move money, make purchases, collect payments, and conduct transactions across various banking networks and payment channels. The company believes that autonomous AI systems will become significant financial participants as businesses increasingly adopt agents for self-performing work tasks. Instead of using infrastructure designed for humans, Natural is creating a dedicated financial stack tailored to the operational requirements of AI-based software.
Natural has already released six products to the public, including Wallets, Vaults, Pay, Request, Transfer, and Connect. These services allow businesses to create financial accounts for AI agents, execute fund transfers, process payments, and integrate payment capabilities into marketplaces and platforms. In the coming months, the company plans to expand its platform with new products such as Voice, Accept, and Cards. These new features will enable AI agents to securely accept payment data, process payments from vendors, and use specialized payment cards.
Later this year, Natural intends to introduce the Charge, Credit, Direct, and Billing products. These additions will provide support for API-based billing, credit facilities for AI agents, direct access to payment channels, and usage-based payment models for autonomous software.
The secured funds will help Natural continue building its proprietary banking and payment infrastructure, as well as expanding its engineering and commercial teams. Despite being young, the company claims to have developed most of its core technology internally and is actively hiring staff across all departments. Investors believe that AI agents are transforming from simple productivity tools into autonomous economic participants capable of managing financial operations on behalf of businesses. As adoption grows, demand is expected to increase for specialized infrastructure that manages identity, compliance, reconciliation, fraud prevention, and payment orchestration for these digital workers.
The Series A was led by Forerunner with participation from existing investors. Additional sponsors include founders and executives from Human Capital, Abstract, Increase, HappyRobot, Browserbase, Notion, Privy, Brex, Y Combinator, Antifund, and several other technology firms. Natural stated that the new capital will be directed toward further product development, as the company is building what it calls the foundational payment infrastructure for AI agents. The company predicts that autonomous software will become an increasingly vital part of global commerce, requiring financial systems designed specifically for machine transactions rather than traditional human workflows. Thus, Natural aims to become the financial backbone powering the next generation of autonomous digital economies.
