Private Markets: Nuclear, hypersonics score nearly $800M in fresh capital

Valar Atomics and Hermeus secure major late-stage funding rounds this week, underscoring continued investor appetite for next generation national security and advanced energy platforms.

Meet Samuel – Your Personal Investing Prophet

Looking for exposure to SpaceX & Anthropic? Check out AGIX ETF

Some of the biggest capital raises by private companies this week include:

• Valar Atomics – The nuclear energy startup backed by Anduril Industries founder Palmer Luckey and Palantir (PLTR) executive Shyam Sankar raised $450M in fresh capital at a $2B valuation. Publicly traded companies in the space include Oklo (OKLO), BWX Technologies (BWXT), and NuScale Power (SMR).
• Hermeus – The defense aviation company said it closed $350M in Series C financing. The round was led by Khosla Ventures, with continued support from Canaan Partners, Founders Fund, RTX Ventures, Bling Capital, and In-Q-Tel. Publicly traded companies in the space include AeriVironment (AVAV), Kratos Defense (KTOS), and RTX (RTX).
• EnerVenue – The company commercializing energy storage solutions designed to behave like durable infrastructure announced a $300M Series B financing round led by Full Vision Capital. Publicly traded companies in the space include Fluence Energy (FLNC), Stem (STEM), and Enphase (ENPH).
• Tenex AI – The company said it raised $250M in Series B financing. The round was led by Crosspoint Capital Partners. Publicly traded companies in the space include Nvidia (NVDA), Snowflake (SNOW), and Palantir (PLTR).
• Chapter – The AI company focused on retirement announced that it has raised $100M in Series E funding. The round was led by Generation Investment Management, with participation from new investors Fifth Down Capital, 8VC, as well as the company’s existing investors: Stripes, XYZ Venture Capital, Addition, Narya Capital, Susa Ventures, and Maverick Ventures. Publicly traded companies in the space include eHealth (EHTH), GoHealth (GOCO), and Alignment Healthcare (ALHC).

Unicorns to watch this week:

• Eight Sleep – The AI-powered sleep-optimization hardware and biometrics platform hit unicorn status in Q1 2026 after a $50M Series D. Publicly traded companies in the space include Tempur Sealy (TPX), Sleep Number (SNBR), and Garmin (GRMN).
• Cellares – The automated cell-therapy manufacturing platform also achieved unicorn status in early 2026 via a $257M Series D. Publicly traded companies in the space include Repligen (RGEN), Thermo Fisher (TMO), and Danaher (DHR).
• Bedrock Robotics – The autonomous construction-equipment systems company is valued at about $1.8B after a major Series B funding round. Publicly traded companies in the space include Caterpillar (CAT), Trimble (TRMB), and Teradyne (TER).
• Perplexity AI – Operating in the AI/chatbots space, Perplexity is positioned as a next-generation search challenger with strong investor enthusiasm. Publicly traded companies in the space include Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), and Amazon (AMZN).
• Figure AI – The humanoid robots startup is seeing major partnership momentum with OpenAI collaboration and BMW pilot. Publicly traded companies in the space include Tesla (TSLA), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), and Microsoft (MSFT).

IPOs to watch:

• SpaceX – The company outlined the details of its IPO at a meeting with its team of bankers, telling them of plans to earmark a large portion of shares for retail investors and intentions to host 1,500 of them at an event in June, Echo Wang of Reuters reports, citing two people familiar with the matter. “Retail is going to be a critical part of this and a bigger part than any IPO in history,” Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen said, according to the journal’s sources.
• AEVEX – The company filed an initial public offering of shares of Class A common stock. The company applied to list its Class A common stock on the NYSE under the symbol “AVEX.” Goldman Sachs, BofA, Jefferies, J.P. Morgan, RBC Capital, Baird, William Blair, Raymond James, Needham & Company, Academy Securities, Capital One Securities, and PNC Capital Markets are acting as the underwriters for the offering.
• Yesway – The company has filed with the SEC for an initial public offering of shares of Class A common stock and applied to list its shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol “YSWY.” Yesway is a U.S.-based convenience store operator that operates primarily under two brands, Yesway and Allsup’s. “Our geographic footprint consists of stores located in attractive rural and suburban markets across the Southwest and Midwest, where we often are the convenience retail destination of choice and, effectively, the local grocer. We have a successful track record of growing through new store development and 27 acquisitions and believe we are well-positioned to continue to solidify our market position and grow our store count,” the prospectus states.
• Student Living EduVation – The company filed with the SEC for an initial public offering by the company of 3.75M ordinary shares. The company stated, “We are offering 3,750,000 Ordinary Shares on a firm commitment basis. We anticipate that Offering price of the Ordinary Shares will be between $4.00 and $6.00 per Ordinary Share. The Resale Shareholders are also offering 5,880,000 Ordinary Shares to be sold pursuant to the Resale Prospectus.”
• Liftoff Mobile – The company announced that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the proposed initial public offering of its common stock. The total number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. The offering is subject to market and other conditions and the completion of the SEC’s review process.

“Private Markets” is The Fly’s recurring series of stories on the latest moves in the private sector, largest unicorn companies and initial public offerings to watch. Fly subscribers, add $PRIVATE to your portfolio for alerts on breaking news in the startup and venture capital space.