Location: Washington DC, USA

How we met: on zoom, Jake pitching us with his newborn strapped to his chest. 

Propeller theme: Ocean Industrials

Propeller investment stage: Seed

Blue Energy has a novel approach to hosting coastal, submerged SMRs constructed and assembled in shipyards. They are leveraging the matching construction capabilities of shipyards to the massive cost and regulatory challenges that inhibit SMR deployment. 

• Why we love the founders –  Jake Jurewicz is a true subject matter expert who has assembled an all-star team with co-founder Matt Slotkin. Tom O’Neil comes to them as former General Counsel at Exelon; CJ Fong spent two + decades at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; and Charlie Bowser built the NETPower pilot plant. They know what they are doing.
• What’s novel about Blue Energy’s tech – Blue Energy is the first nuclear integrator to focus on a design that is submerged for safety and cost benefits and utilizes mostly off-the shelf design and material elements to simplify their process and make it easily repeatable.
• Why we’re excited about this market – Nuclear is on a roll. But time and cost are still the biggest challenges the space faces. Reactors make up less than 10% of the cost of nuclear power plants, while 90% of the cost comes from construction and regulatory work. Blue Energy can harness the enthusiasm of the market for clean, firm power and deliver on time – engaging a reactor-agnostic architecture that isn’t a bet on a bet. 
• How impactful Blue Energy could be – nuclear power generates almost zero carbon emissions during operation and is reliably up 24/7. As energy demands surge, Blue Energy could install energy capacity avoiding gigatons of carbon emissions from dirty sources of firm power.

Learn more about Blue Energy at https://blueenergy.co/