Ghanaian-American entrepreneur Kofi Asante is making waves in America’s energy sector after his startup, Bluecore Energy, secured an oversubscribed $50 million seed funding round to advance an ambitious plan: building small nuclear reactors on floating barges.
The September 8 funding round was led by Silverton Partners and comes only weeks after Bluecore announced a $10 million pre-seed raise. The company has now disclosed roughly $60 million in funding as investors increasingly bet on its unconventional approach to America’s growing electricity needs.
Founded by Asante in 2026, Bluecore is developing compact, water-cooled small modular reactors designed to operate aboard barges instead of traditional land-based nuclear plants.
The concept could allow power-generating systems to be moved to locations where electricity demand is rising rapidly, including ports, AI data centers, coastal communities and critical infrastructure.
Bluecore’s first system is being designed to generate around 10 megawatts of continuous electricity. Multiple units could eventually be combined to serve much larger energy demands, while offshore installations could potentially transmit electricity to shore using subsea cables.
For America, the timing could hardly be more significant.
The explosive growth of artificial intelligence and massive data centers is creating enormous demand for reliable, around-the-clock electricity. Ports are also under pressure to reduce emissions while maintaining increasingly energy-intensive operations.
Asante believes nuclear power could become part of the answer.
Bluecore is headquartered at the Port of Long Beach in California, where it has already secured its first barge and is developing and testing components for its maritime nuclear system. The company is also working through regulatory processes involving the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Coast Guard.
The new $50 million investment will support engineering, hardware development, testing, regulatory work, manufacturing, hiring and nuclear fuel procurement as Bluecore pushes toward eventual deployment.
The technology still has significant regulatory and engineering hurdles ahead, and commercial nuclear barges are not yet powering American ports.
But the massive early investment sends a powerful message.
From Ghanaian-American roots to the center of America’s nuclear-energy conversation, Kofi Asante is betting that the future of reliable power may not only be built on land.
It could be floating on water.
