Every company founded 2020 or later rebuilding U.S. physical industry — nuclear, power, metals, chemicals, defense, and the software that runs the factories.
| Company | Category | Founded | What they make | Raised | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMERICAN TURBINES | Power / Grid | 2025 | Compact 1MW gas turbine, pickup-truck sized, built from fewer than 40 parts; pre-revenue and operating in stealth. | — | San Francisco, CA |
| HARMONY AI | AI Mfg | 2025 | AI-native factory automation layer that connects machines, software, and paperwork on the factory floor. | $1.6M | Chattanooga, TN |
| MIND ROBOTICS | Robotics | 2025 | Develops industrial AI robots trained on factory data; spun out of Rivian. | $500M | USA |
| NOX METALS | Metals & Minerals | 2025 | AI-powered aluminum distributor offering instant quotes and next-day delivery with automated cutting capabilities. | — | Detroit, MI |
| WESTERN CHEMICALS | Chemicals | 2025 | Duckweed-to-ethanol biofuel startup using wastewater feedstock for ethanol conversion. Pre-revenue. | $4M | El Segundo, CA |
| AETHERFLUX | Defense / Aerospace | 2024 | Builds space-based solar power satellites that beam energy to Earth via infrared lasers; expanding into orbital data centers. | $275M | San Carlos, CA |
| AYR ENERGY | Power / Grid | 2024 | Manufactures power transformers and switchgear, addressing an acute US shortage of both. | $29M | USA |
| GENERAL MATTER | Nuclear | 2024 | HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium) enrichment company positioned to break Russia's monopoly on HALEU supply. | $50M | Los Angeles, CA |
| PHYSICAL INTELLIGENCE | Robotics | 2024 | Builds general-purpose AI foundation models (pi0) intended to let robots perform physical tasks. | $1B | San Francisco, CA |
| BASE POWER | Power / Grid | 2023 | Vertically integrated residential battery storage and power company. | $260M | Austin, TX |
| CASTELION | Defense / Aerospace | 2023 | Develops mass-manufactured hypersonic missiles. | — | El Segundo, CA |
| DEEP FISSION | Nuclear | 2023 | Underground pressurized water reactor developer using standard LEU; trades as NYSE: FISN. | — | USA |
| DIG ENERGY | Chemicals | 2023 | Mobile water-jet drilling technology for geothermal wells, claimed by the company to cut drilling cost by 80%. | $5M | Hopkinton, NH |
| MARATHON FUSION | Nuclear | 2023 | Fusion fuel-cycle company focused on tritium processing. | — | San Francisco, CA |
| PRYZM | Defense / Aerospace | 2023 | Builds an AI-powered defense acquisition and contracting platform. | $12.2M | Washington, DC |
| VALAR ATOMICS | Nuclear | 2023 | Helium-cooled high-temperature gas reactor developer pursuing a 'gigasite' factory production model. | $150M | Hawthorne, CA |
| AALO ATOMICS | Nuclear | 2022 | Factory-built 10MWe sodium-cooled microreactor designed for AI data center power. | $136M | Austin, TX |
| AALYRIA | Defense / Aerospace | 2022 | Provides space communications infrastructure: laser terminals and satellite mesh network orchestration software. | $100M | Livermore, CA |
| ANTARES NUCLEAR | Nuclear | 2022 | Microreactor developer for land, sea, and space applications. | $130M | Torrance, CA |
| APEX | Defense / Aerospace | 2022 | Mass-produces standardized satellite bus platforms. | $722M | Los Angeles, CA |
| ARMADA | Power / Grid | 2022 | Full-stack edge computing company building modular data centers with Starlink connectivity for defense and energy customers. | $230M | San Francisco, CA |
| AUAR | Construction | 2022 | Builds robotic micro-factories for timber housing, in partnership with ABB. | — | London, UK / US |
| COLLABORATIVE ROBOTICS | Robotics | 2022 | Builds AI-native collaborative robots (cobots) for logistics and manufacturing environments. | $100M | Seattle, WA |
| CONSTELLATION ENERGY | Nuclear | 2022 | Nuclear utility trading as NYSE: CEG, leading the restart of the Three Mile Island plant. | — | USA |
| DG MATRIX | Power / Grid | 2022 | Solid-state transformers for AI data centers, EVs, and microgrids. | $30M | Raleigh, NC |
| EXODYS ENERGY | Nuclear | 2022 | Fast-chloride molten salt reactor design that burns nuclear waste as fuel. | $2.4M | New York, NY |
| HAVEN ENERGY | Battery Storage | 2022 | Battery storage and solar virtual power plant company. | — | USA |
| LITHIOS | Metals & Minerals | 2022 | Electrochemical lithium extraction technology for processing lithium from brine. | — | Cambridge, MA |
| MAGRATHEA METALS | Metals & Minerals | 2022 | Carbon-neutral electrolytic process for producing magnesium metal from seawater. | — | Oakland, CA |
| MANTEL | Chemicals | 2022 | Molten salt carbon capture technology for industrial plants. | — | USA |
| SARONIC | Defense / Aerospace | 2022 | Builds autonomous unmanned surface vessels for the US Navy. | $2.6B | Austin, TX |
| SPIRITUS | Chemicals | 2022 | Passive direct air capture technology using a solid sorbent, without fans. | — | USA |
| TERRAGIA BIOFUEL | Chemicals | 2022 | Converts cellulosic biomass into ethanol and jet fuel. | $6M | Hanover, NH |
| THEA ENERGY | Nuclear | 2022 | Stellarator fusion company using software-driven control. | — | Kearny, NJ |
| TRUE ANOMALY | Defense / Aerospace | 2022 | Builds space security satellites for rendezvous and proximity operations. | $130M | Denver, CO |
| XCIMER ENERGY | Nuclear | 2022 | Laser inertial fusion company; operates what is described as the world's largest private laser. | $100M | Denver, CO |
| ZERO INDUSTRIAL | Green H2 | 2022 | Provides thermal storage and Heat-as-a-Service for industrial process heat. | $10M | USA |
| ELECTRIFIED THERMAL | Green H2 | 2021 | MIT spinout making Joule Hive, conductive firebricks that store and deliver industrial process heat up to 1,800°C. | — | Boston, MA |
| FOURTH POWER | Power / Grid | 2021 | Thermal battery storing energy in graphite blocks and liquid metal. | $19M | Cambridge, MA |
| MONUMENTAL | Construction | 2021 | Builds autonomous bricklaying robots. | $25M | Amsterdam, NL |
| NANO NUCLEAR | Nuclear | 2021 | Microreactor IP aggregator listed on NASDAQ (NNE); acquired Ultra Safe Nuclear's assets after its 2024 bankruptcy. | $400M | New York, NY |
| PERMITFLOW | Construction | 2021 | AI-powered software for construction permit application and management. | $54M | San Francisco, CA |
| PICO MES | AI Mfg | 2021 | Cloud-native manufacturing execution system (MES) built for small and mid-sized factories, digitizing processes still tracked on paper. | — | USA |
| REFLECT ORBITAL | Power / Grid | 2021 | Orbital mirror satellites that reflect sunlight onto solar farms after dark. | — | Hawthorne, CA |
| RODATHERM | Power / Grid | 2021 | Closed-loop advanced geothermal systems at 100MW scale. | $38M | Salt Lake City, UT |
| VERDAGY | Green H2 | 2021 | Makes advanced alkaline water electrolyzers for green hydrogen production. | $100M | Moss Landing, CA |
| BOTBUILT | Construction | 2020 | Builds robotic framing systems for home construction. | $18.9M | Durham, NC |
| ELECTRA | Metals & Minerals | 2020 | Low-temperature electrochemical process for producing green iron. | $85M | Boulder, CO |
| ELECTRIC HYDROGEN | Green H2 | 2020 | Builds 100MW+ PEM electrolyzers for green hydrogen production at a dedicated gigafactory. | $665M | Natick/Devens, MA |
| FORMIC | Robotics | 2020 | Provides industrial robots to factories on a pay-by-the-hour, robotics-as-a-service basis. | — | Chicago, IL |
| HADRIAN | Defense / Aerospace | 2020 | Operates automated precision component manufacturing for aerospace and defense customers. | $220M | Torrance, CA |
| INFINIUM | Chemicals | 2020 | Produces electrofuels from waste CO2 and green hydrogen. | $75M | Sacramento, CA |
| LAST ENERGY | Nuclear | 2020 | 20MWe pressurized water microreactor using standard low-enriched uranium (LEU), avoiding HALEU dependency. | $100M | Washington, DC |
| OUR NEXT ENERGY | Battery Storage | 2020 | Manufactures LFP and dual-chemistry range-extender battery packs. | $300M | Novi, MI |
| RADIANT NUCLEAR | Nuclear | 2020 | 1MWe portable helium-cooled microreactor, founded by SpaceX alumni. | $300M | El Segundo, CA |
| REFRAME SYSTEMS | Construction | 2020 | Builds net-zero modular homes using robotic microfactories. | — | Boston, MA |
| RONDO ENERGY | Green H2 | 2020 | Makes a heat battery — a thermal storage system for industrial process heat up to 1,500°C. | $60M | Alameda, CA |
| STOKE SPACE | Defense / Aerospace | 2020 | Develops fully reusable rockets, including both first and second stage. | $1.9B | Kent, WA |