There’s power, and then there’s Zeno Power, a name that hits with the weight of Greek philosophy and Cold War fallout. Founded in 2018 by a trio of Vanderbilt University alums, Tyler Bernstein, Jonathan Segal, and Jacob Matthews, Zeno Power’s been quietly turning nuclear waste into long-life energy gold. Not metaphorically. Literally. Their power systems use Strontium 90 pulled straight from Cold War leftovers and turn it into electricity with Stirling engines built for the Arctic, the ocean floor, lunar craters, and anywhere else the sun don’t shine and batteries don’t last.
This week, Zeno Power dropped a Series B bombshell, $50 million raised, led by Hanaco Ventures, with backup from Seraphim Space, Balerion Space Ventures, JAWS, RiverPark Ventures, STAGE 1 VENTURES, 7i Capital Advisors, Beyond Earth Ventures, and Vanderbilt University. That’s a dream cap table for a startup playing in the radioactive sandbox. It’s not about hype, it’s about hardware, heat, and the kind of quiet innovation that powers missions long after headlines fade.
Zeno Power’s not pitching potential. They’ve already locked in $60M+ in contracts from NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the United States Department of Defense. Their $15M Tipping Point award with NASA? It's about surviving lunar nights where temperatures drop to -200°C. And the DoD’s $7.5M DEPTHS contract? It’s about giving seabed infrastructure a power source that doesn’t blink. These aren’t concept sketches. This is already flying, underwater, in space, and across every frontier where wires don’t reach and solar doesn’t work.
Their game is simple: convert radioactive decay into reliable watts, 10 to hundreds, for 10+ years with zero maintenance. It’s modular. It’s compact. And it’s scalable. Westinghouse Electric Corporation is fabricating the nuclear heat source. Atomic Alchemy Inc. and Oklo Inc are in on the fuel supply. And by 2026, Zeno Power plans to demo full-scale systems. By 2027, they’ll be shipping the first commercial nuclear batteries in history. This isn’t just about next-gen energy, it’s about energy that outlives the next gen.
Their HQ in Seattle and outpost in DC now house 65+ employees. That number’s climbing to 100+ as they scale manufacturing and stack a team of engineers, regulatory experts, and policy tacticians. And with Admiral John M Richardson, former Chief of Naval Operations, joining the board this month, they’re not just building tech. They’re building trust at the highest levels.
No buzzwords. No bravado. Just nuclear batteries built to last longer than your VC’s fund cycle. Zeno Power isn’t here to make noise, they’re here to power the silence.
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Thank you, Vention. Without your support, none of this would be possible.