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Nucleation Capital
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Subscription Amount
$5,000+ Quarterly
Subscription Period
1-12 Quarters
Management Fee
2% per year over 10 years
Carry
20%
Admin Fee
0.15% per year over 10 years
Starting Q1 2025, this fund will transition onto updated Rolling Fund admin fee pricing terms. These costs will be covered by the fund lead. See the Investment Details section for more.
Invest Account
Select invest account
Note from Valerie Gardner and Rod Adams
Welcome to Nucleation Capital Fund I
Nucleation Fund I is a venture fund pioneering a sustainable future by enabling climate-focused, accredited investors to invest in emerging and innovative advanced nuclear and deep decarbonization technology ventures in a convenient, affordable, and risk-reduced way.
Next-generation nuclear (spanning fission, fusion and other types of nuclear energy) and deep decarbonization (which includes various techniques for carbon capture, utilization and sequestration, collectively called “CCUS”), are nascent technological sectors with huge potential to tip the scales in our fight against climate change. They can help solve two of our biggest challenges: 1) replacing our use of fossil fuels with energy systems that are clean, carbon-free, abundant and reliable, and 2) removing CO2 from the atmosphere in quantities sufficient to matter, to slow global warming and restore climate health.
Nucleation focuses on building for our investors portfolios of equity positions in the best ventures working in these spaces. For as little as $5,000 a quarter, accredited investors gain access to our expertly curated selections into these high-growth, climate-critical private ventures through our investor-friendly, subscription-based rolling fund. Our fund’s structure and platform allow us to offer flexible terms, reduced fees and costs, and provide high-caliber reporting and performance tracking through a state-of-the-art client portal that makes participation affordable, secure and convenient.
How our fund works:
- Read through this memo and review all of the terms, docs and links.
- Enter the amount you wish to fund quarterly in the box on the top right.
- Select the number of quarters for your subscription period (note: we offer a fee discount for subscriptions of 8 quarters or more).
- Click “Apply” and you will be guided through an account setup and online accreditation process (required by the SEC). Please be sure to indicate how you initially found us in the Comment area.
- Once accredited, your application is forwarded to us for review and approval. We will approve your application and apply any relevant discount at that time.
- You will be notified of your acceptance and guided through the process of connecting to a bank to facilitate your quarterly funding.
It’s that simple. Thereafter, Nucleation Capital does the rest. We’ll send you a welcome message with more details about the fund and its operation on the AngelList platform. Your rolling fund subscription gives you a pro rata share of each investment we make in the quarters to which you are subscribed (we have averaged about one investment per quarter). AngelList deducts and manages the fees and will track the performance and provide tax reports on your private dashboard. You will be repaid 100% of your subscribed principal for your full term from the proceeds of our investments before we receive any carried interest distributions.
Our Portfolio
We are pleased to showcase our portfolio of ventures selected in prior quarters. These companies are creating a range of innovative designs for fission, fusion, marine carbon capture, marine propulsion, deep geologic waste storage, nuclear AI, and sustainable fuel production. We have co-invested with investment firms like DCVC, Union Square Ventures, Prime Movers Lab, Founders Fund, TPG, Capricorn and Fifth Wall. We’ve also invested as the only VC in a deal. Please see our Portfolio page for more information about how we define our unique thesis.
Meet the Team 🧑🤝🧑
Nucleation Capital brings focused expertise with a team that blends traditional and advanced nuclear expertise with climate, clean energy and investment expertise.
- Valerie Gardner | Managing Partner: JD/MBA, former tech entrepreneur, investor and CFO/General Counsel at two tech ventures (one acquired for $.5 billion by Microsoft). Founder of two investment firms in Menlo Park, including a $300 million AUM registered investment advisor, which developed the first public market nuclear-focused zero-carbon portfolio strategy for high net worth clients; and Nucleation Capital, founded to enable accredited investors to gain access to high-potential advanced nuclear-focused climate tech ventures through an expertly curated and risk-reduced portfolio.
- Rod Adams | Managing Partner: An industry veteran and former Naval Commander with 11 naval deployments, including operating submarine nuclear reactors. Founder of Adams Atomic Engines, one of the earliest advanced nuclear reactor ventures. Founder and host of the highly respected Atomic Insights and the Atomic Show podcast. Appeared as an expert in Oliver Stone’s 2023 Nuclear Now documentary.
- Jonathan Tiemann | CFO, a Yale Ph.D. in Finance, co-founder, president and CIO of Tiemann Investment Advisors, with more than three decades of institutional-caliber investment management, risk analyses, fintech design and venture valuation experience. Former FINRA committee advisor. Fort Ross Conservancy board member.
- Rick DeGolia | Managing Member and a clean energy public policy expert with community choice aggregation (CCA) and distributed energy resource (DER) experience, Peninsula Clean Energy board chair and director, former attorney with Wilson Sonsini, as well as tech CEO. A Silicon Valley community leader and private equity, venture and tech investor.
- Advisors | We have the support of a diverse set of expert advisors from industry, government, environmental and investment communities, including: Ray Rothrock, formerly with Venrock Capital for 35 years and a renowned nuclear energy venture capital investor; Ross Koningstein, Google’s first VP Engineering, lead on the “RE<C” clean energy study and founder of Google’s Advanced Nuclear group; Meredith Angwin, esteemed author of “Shorting the Grid,” Rani Franovich, a former NRC regulator, and many more.
Why Nuclear?
Political leaders everywhere have committed to the goal of eliminating 50% of their CO2 emissions by 2030 and nearly all emissions by 2050. We are now less than six years away from 2030 and emissions from burning fossil fuels have only continued to grow. We’ve not “moved the needle” or “bent the curve” on reducing fossil fuel use globally, which remains popular and cheap, especially in developing nations. This screams out for vastly better energy solutions.
Humanity cannot and will not do without energy. It has become as vital to our lives as food, water and shelter. In fact, the more energy you use, the higher the quality of life you can have. This is what makes solving the climate crisis so challenging. The rapid expansion of renewables has provided hope but not a solution, as renewables do not replace fossil fuels. Nor will they stand up well to the rapidly changing and increasingly extreme weather patterns that we expect.
This is the context that demands we reassess nuclear power. Despite years of negative press, nuclear power has actually been a top energy performer overall: it generates about 20% of electricity in the US and 10% internationally. But we are still using designs created in the 1950s and ‘60s with slide rules and T-squares. Reimagining nuclear energy to better meet our 21st century energy needs is the imperative driving the hundreds of innovative teams now working in advanced nuclear ventures.
Advanced nuclear is a new generation of paradigm-shifting designs optimized to meet a broader set of global energy and decarbonization needs. These new, “Nuke 2.0” designs will add to the available menu of clean energy options with smaller, modular, safer and cheaper nuclear power plants that are more suitable for meeting the growing demand for clean power sources ranging from under 1 megawatt [the power output of a small EV charging station] on up to about 500 megawatts, which can provide power for about half a million homes, the size of a small city.
In addition to having a choice of power sizes, a range of features will enable next-gen nuclear to compete with coal and gas in “hard-to-decarbonize” sectors. Higher-temperature designs can generate the exceptionally-high temperature industrial process heat used in steel fabrication and chemical production - a capability older nuclear plants do not have. Many designs will come with energy storage capacity, to enable temperature boosting as well as better energy management for use in combination with intermittent renewables.
Still other designs will use former nuclear waste as fuel, helping to reduce the amount of nuclear waste stored and others will breed their own fuel. Most advanced designs will utilize their fuel exceptionally efficiently, operating for 10 or 20 years without refueling. Additionally, some reactors will be optimized for mobile applications, such as for use in emergency situations or for use on ships. Others, designed to operate safely without sources of water for cooling, may be best for remote locations, hurricane zones, deserts, or even in space.
This growing menu of options lets next-gen nuclear meet the needs of a broad assortment of energy users. We expect they will enable nuclear to compete against fossil fuels in almost every energy application, and permit a full global transition to zero-carbon energy with 100% clean and reliable power systems.
The urgency to develop the ideal energy source that competes head to head with fossil fuels has turned nuclear energy into an active climate tech space. Private ventures around the world are raising venture capital and qualifying for non-dilutive government grants, tax incentives and loan guarantees aimed at stimulating climate solutions. Governments are supporting private innovation outside of national labs. So, for the first time in history, investors have opportunities to invest in what may be the ultimate energy technology: next-generation nuclear—what we believe is the future of energy.
About Nucleation Capital
Nucleation Capital is a woman-led venture fund investing in the most high-potential, if contrarian, climate solutions. We know and understand nuclear’s origins and its long and extraordinarily complex history. We also understand what climate scientists are freaking out about—the incredible amount of forced heating our planet is experiencing. We want to invest in the best solutions being developed. But finding a way to do so is very difficult.
That is why we formed Nucleation Capital, to provide investors with well-curated portfolios of the best, most promising technologies and ventures. As it is a high-risk sector, we have opted to diversify across technologies, geographies, stages and sprinkle in carbon management ventures that best leverage advanced nuclear. We also felt it was critical to make it possible for investors to participate in this emerging asset class at relatively low capital levels. The subscription-based, rolling fund structure makes this possible.
Most importantly, we bring deep technical and industry knowledge, connections and insights, which we apply to our portfolio selections. We know nuclear’s history and its potential, which we believe gives us an information advantage throughout our investment process, from deal flow through to diligence assessments. An investment in Nucleation diversifies, rather than replicates, your other cleantech fund holdings.
Nucleation is well known in the nuclear industry. We are often the first call for a new nuclear venture considering their seed or Series A fundraise. We’ve built our reputation through regular attendance at nuclear conferences, decades of thought leadership and deep networks. Yet, we recognize that no one yet knows which types of technologies or which ventures will succeed, which is why we are building tech-agnostic portfolios—of the most exceptional private ventures commercializing next-gen nuclear power spanning fission, fusion, subcritical reactors, radioisotope thermal generators, solid-state nuclear, nuclear batteries, etc.—to diversify away risk.
The success of nuclear power depends not just on reactors, but on a strong nuclear industry. We will also invest in promising supply and support ventures in areas such as advanced fuels, advanced materials, fuel reprocessing, waste treatment and storage, mine remediation, operating and test software, AI services, deployment and training, etc.
On the deep decarbonization side of our thesis, we seek scalable carbon-management solutions that produce true value beyond carbon credits and which will benefit from low-cost, always available clean energy, like nuclear. This can include carbon capture ventures and synthetic fuel developers seeking to synthesize captured CO2 into alternative carbon-neutral fuels like sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) or sustainable petrol, in conjunction with other industrial chemicals like hydrogen and ammonia. These ventures may now be trying to source 100% renewable power, but they all need a 24x7 source of clean power to be cost-effective, carbon neutral manufacturers. We will be sure that they assess the options provided by nuclear power down the road.
Climate change is an existential threat—but it is also an opportunity to profit from the urgent requirement to transition away from fossil fuels. Customers such as Google, Microsoft, Nucor and Amazon (which just acquired a nuclear-powered data center), are some of the big new energy buyers that recognize the benefits of nuclear: they are committed to having around the clock clean energy and have found that they cannot get it any other way. They are also among some of the larger strategic partners looking to invest in this most promising clean energy sector. We are honored to be co-investing with some of them.
Fees & Costs
Nucleation charges standard venture capital fees of 2% and 20% but offers discounts on them for longer and/or larger subscriptions. We have low costs as a fund (due to our automated platform) and so we pay for AngelList’s Admin fees (including after their price increase) ourselves. Here is the summary:
- Management fees: 2% annual fee for portfolio creation and management. We provide a 25% discount (down to 1.5% per annum) for subscription terms of 8 quarters or more.
- Carried Interest fee: 20% on net proceeds after the full repayment of investor principal. For subscriptions of $50,000 or more, we reduce carry by 25% (down to 15%)
- AngelList Admin fee: Please note: We deduct the AngelList Admin Fee out of our management fee, so this cost is not passed onto our investors. While AngelList is increasing its fees effective Q1 2025, we will continue to cover the AngelList fee and therefore that increase will not impact our investors.
Why Now?
“The day before something is a breakthrough, it’s a crazy idea.”
Nuke 2.0 isn’t just a collection of new designs, it is a transformation of nuclear energy into “atomictech,” a true tech sector. Growing orders, quantity production and regulatory certainty should rapidly bring costs down, and allow nuclear to follow a learning curve similar to that of PCs, cell phones and other technologies. This transformation may be too late to help the world meet its 2030 carbon reduction goals, but that makes meeting the 2050 goal all the more important.
Advanced nuclear is poised to emerge on time to serve the sharp increase in demand for electricity caused by the growth of data centers needed to serve the burgeoning AI sector, cryptocurrencies, advanced manufacturing and global economic development. It can also enable the transition of coal and gas power plants into clean energy plants, by replacing coal or gas as a heat source and repurposing much of the balance of plant. The DOE, the Congress, the NRC and energy buyers are already planning for this transition.
There are now strong signals that a major shift is underway. Congress’s bipartisan support has already laid the groundwork to accelerate regulatory approvals for commercialization of next-gen nuclear. Energy buyers are gearing up, Wall Street has begun its pivot. Even leaders on the progressive left, like California Governor Gavin Newsom, have acknowledged the need for nuclear power to address climate change. For more support of this transition, please see our website and sign up for our quarterly newsletter, Nucleation Insights. The time to invest is now while the importance of these two climate-critical sectors remain under-appreciated by the majority of investors.
Key Links
Website: NucleationCapital.com
Presentation: Investor Presentation
Join a Webinar: Meet us and learn more
Investment Details*
- Minimum recommended subscription: $5,000/quarter for four quarters.
- Management fee: 2% per annum for 10 years.
- Carried Interest: 20% paid after full return of subscribed LP principal for full term.
- Nucleation pays the AngelList Admin fee (so please disregard their notice of a price increase!)
- Subscriptions of 8 quarters or more qualify for a fee discount of 25% on our management fee (will be applied when you subscribe).
- Subscriptions of $50,000 per quarter or more qualify for a discount of 25% on carried interest fee (will be applied when you subscribe).
- Any funds not invested in a quarter rollover into the subsequent quarter.
- Deal flow: expect approximately 1 investment per quarter (about 5 per year).
- Nucleation Capital subscribers receive priority access and discounted carry when they participate in a Nucleation Syndicate SPV.
*Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis.
Valerie Gardner, Rod Adams
Valerie Gardner, Rod Adams
Investment Details
Subscription Start Date
April 1, 2024
Minimum Quarterly Subscription
$5,000
Management Fee
Investors pay management fees of 2% per year for the first 10 years.
Management fees are taken as a percentage of the total committed capital. The total management fee is paid out quarterly over the first
four years of the fund's life.
Carry
Twenty percent (20%)
Admin Fee
0.15% per year over 10 years
Starting Q1 2025, this Rolling Fund will transition onto updated Rolling Fund pricing terms. Under these new pricing terms, each new quarterly fund in the Rolling Fund Program will pay an annualized rate of $2.5k + 0.2% of contributed capital over 10 years. These costs will be covered by the fund lead.
GP Commitment
Valerie Gardner and Rod Adams' personal subscription per quarter will be at least $30,000 with a quarterly cap of 30% of each quarterly fund's total committed capital in total.
Investor FAQ
How is this program different from venture fund investing?
How do subscriptions work?
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Will a Limited Partner (LP) participate in all investments made by the funds offered through this Program?
Will an LP's percentage ownership of quarterly funds always be the same?
Are LPs guaranteed access to Nucleation Capital's future funds?
How are subscriptions funded?
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Who manages these funds?
Do funds in this Program have minimum or maximum investment sizes?
What happens if funds in this Program do not invest their total capital each quarter?
When will LPs learn about companies the funds invested in?
Can LPs opt out of specific deals?
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Can LPs redeem their interests in the fund?
When will funds launched under this Program begin deploying capital?
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Unanswered questions? Contact AngelList
The performance of past deals or a lead investors' track record is not a guarantee of future returns. Venture capital fund investments are inherently risky and illiquid. Such investments involve a high degree of risk and are suitable only for sophisticated and accredited investors.
AngelList and its affiliates do not provide investment advice to investors. The information on this page should not be relied upon as research, investment advice or a recommendation of any kind. Information on this page is qualified in its entirety by the fund's Limited Partnership Agreement, Private Placement Memorandum and Subscription Agreement, which should be reviewed carefully prior to making an investment decision. Please see these documents for full details regarding risks, minimum investment, fees and expenses. The fund lead and the fund's investment advisor have the right to waive or charge additional carry to certain investors. The fund's legal name may be different from the name used above.
This fund may accept new investors after the fund undergoes a valuation update. Certain potential investors in the fund may then have access to materially different information concerning fund value at the time of their investment.
Current or future portfolio companies in this fund may use AngelList's recruiting platform and may pay an affiliate of the fund's investment adviser for premium recruiting tools and services. This may create a potential conflict of interest for the investment adviser, which you will consent to by subscribing to the fund.
Please read the disclosures in full here.
Apply To Subscribe
Subscription Amount
$5,000+ Quarterly
Subscription Period
1-12 Quarters
Management Fee
2% per year over 10 years
Carry
20%
Admin Fee
0.15% per year over 10 years
Starting Q1 2025, this fund will transition onto updated Rolling Fund admin fee pricing terms. These costs will be covered by the fund lead. See the Investment Details section for more.
Invest Account
Select invest account