Naarea set out to design a compact molten-salt small modular reactor (SMR) that could be manufactured in series and deployed for factories, data centers, and other industrial users. The company combined liquid fuel and salt coolant technology, aiming for quicker construction and potential fuel-recycling advantages over water-cooled reactors. By 2023 it had built a digital model of the reactor, grown to roughly 300 employees, and occupied three floors outside Paris, but it was still at a preliminary stage with the French nuclear regulator. Technical hurdles included corrosion studies, an uncertain plutonium supply, and questions about the viability of its fuel-recycling process. Naarea attracted €10 million in French government subsidies and €90 million from family offices and other private investors, yet later calculated it would need about €2 billion to commercialize the reactor. Delays in further state backing, the large capital requirement, and investor caution led to a severe cash crunch, workforce cuts in 2024, and a filing for bankruptcy protection in September 2025. An attempted €500 acquisition by waste-to-energy group Eneris collapsed in early 2026, leaving the company in liquidation proceedings.

Total raised

$118M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Feb 2026