Amazon-backed X-energy seeks up to $800M through IPO filing

X-energy has begun its investor roadshow as it prepares for a public listing, aiming to raise significant capital through its initial public offering. According to filings submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company has set an expected share price range between $16 and $19. If priced at the upper end of that range, the offering could generate approximately $814 million.

The company is entering public markets at a time when interest in nuclear fission is surging, largely driven by rising electricity demand tied to AI data centres and broader electrification across industries. X-energy is among a group of startups seeking to capitalise on this renewed focus on nuclear energy as a reliable power source.

One of its most prominent backers is Amazon, which led a $500 million Series C-1 funding round and has committed to purchasing up to 5 gigawatts of nuclear energy from the company by 2039. Overall, investors have poured roughly $1.8 billion into X-energy to date, according to PitchBook data. The IPO effort follows an earlier attempt to go public via a SPAC merger, which was abandoned in 2023 as enthusiasm for such deals declined.

X-energy’s reactor design is based on high-temperature gas-cooled technology. In this system, uranium fuel is enclosed in ceramic and carbon spheres and cooled using helium gas. The heated gas transfers energy to a steam turbine system, generating electricity. The fuel type, known as TRISO, is considered to offer improved safety characteristics compared to older designs, although it has not yet seen widespread adoption.

The company disclosed in its filing that it is currently involved in a patent dispute tied to fuel fabrication technology. The issue stems from allegations that Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation, which filed for bankruptcy in 2024, infringed on its intellectual property. The bankrupt company’s assets were later acquired to form Standard Nuclear, and X-energy maintains that the dispute remains unresolved following those proceedings.

Globally, new nuclear reactor development has slowed outside of China, largely due to high costs and delays. Startups like X-energy are attempting to address these challenges by developing smaller reactor designs that could be easier and more cost-effective to deploy. However, none of the companies working on small modular reactors has brought a power plant online yet, even as several aim to meet ambitious timelines, including a July 4 deadline set by the Trump administration.

While some developers may miss that target, they are still expected to reach critical milestones such as achieving sustained nuclear reactions. Even so, transitioning from early-stage success to fully operational, profitable power plants is expected to take years. Cost reductions through mass manufacturing are possible, but such efficiencies typically take close to a decade to materialise.

X-energy has indicated that once its production processes mature — often referred to as reaching “Nth-of-a-kind” scale — it expects to reduce costs by about 30% compared to its first reactor. For investors, the cost and performance of that initial deployment could play a decisive role in determining the company’s long-term viability.