RX, Developer of 'Heat-Supply SMRs,' Raises 10 Billion Won in Pre-A Bridge Funding

Small modular reactor (SMR) engineering company RX has raised 1 billion won in Pre-A Bridge funding. The investment is seen as recognition of the company’s high level of technological maturity and strong project execution capabilities.

An RX representative said on the 14th, "This follow-on investment comes after our Pre-A round in January this year, with new participation from Korea Development Bank, Smilegate Investment, and Kiwoom Investment." Existing investor Company K Partners also made a follow-on investment, bringing RX's total funding raised to 23.9 billion won.

RX is developing SMRs that supply heat needed at industrial sites. The company was founded by a team led by researchers from the SMR design department at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. It is currently developing RX-50, a light-water SMR for heat supply, in a consortium with the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. RX-50 aims to provide a stable supply of thermal energy without carbon emissions.

With this funding, RX has met the requirement of raising at least 3 billion won in follow-on investment to advance to Phase 2 of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' Deep Tech Challenge Project (DCP). In Phase 1 of the DCP, under the project "Building a Next-Generation, Decarbonized Industrial Heat Energy Ecosystem Through the Development of a Light-Water SMR for Heat Supply," the company completed the conceptual design of RX-50. It plans to begin full-scale research and development if it passes the Phase 2 evaluation.

Choi Suim, a senior investment manager at Bluepoint, said, "Performing Phase 1 of the DCP has given RX a solid foundation for turning its technology into a business. RX has been with us since the seed stage, and seeing it open up the SMR market is significant for the industry. We will continue to actively support its growth." RX raised seed funding from deep-tech accelerator Bluepoint Partners in 2024.

RX CEO Lee Kangheon said, "We will improve RX-50's technological maturity and grow into a company that leads the transition to decarbonized thermal energy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.