Nuclear and Geothermal Startups Are Going Public — And the AI Boom Is Why

[ed]

Climate tech's long-awaited IPO moment has arrived, and it is being driven by two technologies that investors have been backing for years. Nuclear startup X-energy went public this week, raising $1 billion in an upsized share offering that saw its stock pop 25% in the first hour of trading — delivering a significant windfall for backers including Amazon. Days later, geothermal startup Fervo announced it had filed for an IPO, with private investors having valued the company at around $3 billion. Both companies took the traditional route to public markets rather than opting for a SPAC, signaling genuine confidence that a broad base of investors wants in.

The timing is no accident. The AI boom has created an enormous and fast-growing appetite for electricity, turning energy infrastructure into one of the most compelling investment narratives of the decade. Companies like Fervo and X-energy were already betting on rising power demand before AI made it a mainstream story, and their technological maturity happened to coincide perfectly with the moment the narrative went mainstream. Investors had flagged nuclear fission and enhanced geothermal as the climate tech categories most likely to access public markets — and this week proved them right. For climate tech investors who have had capital locked up through a prolonged IPO drought, the listings also provide a long-awaited path to returning money to their LPs.

[mendez]

Saving the planet is great
but does it scale to $1B revenue?