Avalanche Energy awarded contract with DARPA to develop new radiovoltaics. Earlier this week, Avalanche Energy was awarded a $5.2 million contract from DARPA's Rads to Watts program to develop new radiovoltaics. The Pentagon research agency is interested in using the materials in a new class of long-lasting nuclear batteries, which use radioactive decay from materials like polonium to generate electricity. These nuclear batteries could power satellites and spacecraft for several years, or be used in more energy-intensive terrestrial military applications for days on end. Avalanche is focused on engineering micro-fabricated energy cells that turn alpha particles emitted by radioactive material into electricity. The process, the team said, is analogous to solar cells converting photons into electricity. "The goals are to produce a device that has a long lifetime, and that can produce orders of magnitude more power than current technologies," said Daniel Velázquez, Avalanche's physicist and materials science lead. The target is a battery that could continuously power a laptop computer, for example, for many months but weighs roughly 10 pounds. Avalanche is leading the team tackling DARPA's nuclear battery challenge, which includes the University of Utah, Caltech, Los Alamos National Laboratory and McQuaide Microsystems. While Avalanche is ultimately working to develop a compact device that creates energy from fusion - the reactions that power the sun - the DARPA project feeds directly into that longer-term goal, Velázquez said. There are direct parallels to capturing energy from a nuclear battery and from fusion reactions. Read more:

New investors include 8090 Industries, Overlay Capital, and others, with full participation from existing investors Congruent Ventures, Founders Fund, Lowercarbon Capital, and Toyota Ventures, demonstrating increased confidence in Avalanche's technical progress and commercial roadmap.

Avalanche Energy has raised $29 million in an oversubscribed funding round led by RA Capital Management to develop desktop-sized fusion reactors. The Seattle-based startup aims to create compact power plants for satellites, underwater drones and remote bases. Overlay Capital joined as a new investor, alongside existing backers Congruent Ventures and Lowercarbon Capital. The company is working on miniaturised fusion technology that could provide portable power solutions for specialised applications requiring independent energy sources in challenging environments.