Nuclear Turbines, a Manchester-based startup created from technology developed within defence contractor BAE Systems, has announced its arrival in the nuclear energy sector with £15 million in Series A funding. The round was led by IQ Capital, with participation from Rhapsody Venture Partners, Zero Carbon Capital, and Empirical Ventures.
The company, founded in 2025, is focused on developing compact, high-temperature turbine technology designed to reduce the cost of modular nuclear reactors. Unlike conventional approaches to reactor design, Nuclear Turbines has approached the challenge from a different angle—prioritising cost-effective power generation and then engineering the reactor to match.
Jeremy Owston, a key figure at the company, explained the philosophy behind the technology: “The nuclear industry has always designed reactors first, then figured out what to do with the heat. We flipped this script: we started with the cheapest way to generate power and designed a reactor to fit. If we’re serious about reindustrialising while meeting climate goals, we need energy that’s clean and cheap. We’ve created the only tech that solves both, from the UK.”
Deploying Capital Across Development
The £15 million investment will support three primary areas of development. The company plans to conduct extensive design work to refine its turbine technology, construct large-scale test rigs to validate performance under real-world conditions, and expand its engineering and commercial team. These initiatives position Nuclear Turbines to accelerate its path toward commercialisation in the coming years.
The funding round reflects growing investor interest in advanced nuclear solutions, particularly modular reactor designs that promise to offer smaller capital requirements and greater deployment flexibility compared to traditional large-scale nuclear power plants. Several investors backing the round specifically focus on decarbonisation technologies, underscoring the perceived importance of nuclear energy in Europe’s energy transition strategy.
European Context
Nuclear Turbines’ emergence comes at a moment when European policymakers and investors are reconsidering nuclear power’s role in achieving climate goals. The European Union has increasingly acknowledged that meeting decarbonisation targets will require a diverse energy portfolio, including both renewables and nuclear baseload capacity. The rise of modular reactor designs, often termed small modular reactors or SMRs, represents a shift in how the continent approaches nuclear energy development.
The company’s UK location places it within a growing cluster of nuclear technology developers across Britain, though competition for investor attention and talent remains intense. The involvement of experienced venture capital firms suggests confidence that turbine efficiency improvements can translate into meaningful cost reductions for modular reactor systems—a critical factor in determining whether such technologies gain widespread commercial adoption across European energy markets.