Instrumentation & Electrical Technician

Valar Atomics sues Day One Ventures over Investor Rights. Published on October 11, 2026 Valar Atomics sued Day One Ventures for a Delaware court ruling on investor rights, opening a public dispute over a funding agreement and the startup's future rounds. Founder and CEO Isaiah Taylor disclosed the lawsuit on October 9. The filing asks for declaratory relief, though Valar has not specified what additional relief it seeks. The disagreement concerns a contract change made the day before Valar closed its $1 billion Series B in August. Taylor says the change removed a clause that could have restored Day One's pro-rata rights after a strategic investor's allocation was set. Day One says Valar sought a broader surrender of rights. Valar Atomics sues over future rounds. Taylor said Sequoia Capital preempted the Series B, which closed on August 3 at a $6 billion valuation. Valar had carried a near-$2 billion valuation just months earlier, according to the source account. The round was described as $1 billion. Before the financing, Taylor said Valar wanted one large existing investor to make a strategic reinvestment. The company asked other investors designated as Major Investors to hold their allocations at zero. Taylor said that approach was intended to avoid triggering a clause restoring everyone's pro-rata rights. According to Taylor, every Major Investor agreed except Day One. He said investors holding a majority of Valar's stock then amended the Investor Rights Agreement to remove the spring-back clause. In exchange, Taylor said Valar agreed that Day One could participate in future rounds, and that right could not be removed without Day One's consent. Day One general partner Masha Bucher offered a different account hours after Taylor's post. She said Day One offered to give up most of its Series B pro-rata allocation. Bucher said Valar instead demanded that Day One surrender its rights to every future round. Bucher also raised a separate complaint about a significant secondary sale of Valar shares by Taylor. She said Day One learned of the sale after the fact and was excluded. The two accounts have not been tested in court, so the competing descriptions remain allegations by the parties. Investor Rights at a higher valuation. Day One invested $1 million in Valar's seed round and $15 million in its Series A, the source reported. The firm held under 5% of the company on a fully diluted basis, but that stake qualified it for Major Investor status and the associated pro-rata rights. The source said Valar's Series B closed at a $6 billion valuation after a near-$2 billion valuation just months earlier. Those figures frame why the parties disagree over future participation. The lawsuit puts the contract language and the parties' competing accounts before a Delaware court. Readers following disputes over startup financing can also examine another startup funding model. A separate venture adviser dispute shows another public disagreement involving a startup and an adviser. For a related lawsuit involving a founder, see the Hayden AI case. The company builds small modular reactors intended to power AI data centers directly, according to the source. It described planned "gigasites" that would bypass the public grid. The source also reported that the Ward250 reactor went critical on June 18, 2026, producing around 100 kilowatts of nuclear power. Valar and Nvidia were reportedly planning a 30-megawatt nuclear-powered AI facility in Utah as the first commercial deployment of their partnership. The source said Valar's business requires regulatory approval, physical construction and substantial capital. Those demands make future financing rights central to the dispute described in the filing. Valar's lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgment on its reading of the Investor Rights Agreement. The court has not tested either side's account, and the source did not report a ruling. The next public step will depend on the Delaware case and any further details Valar provides about the relief it seeks.

Exosens supports the accelerating deployment of next-generation nuclear technologies in the U.S. October 08, 2026 12:00 ET | Source: Exosens * Key milestones achieved under the U.S. Department of Energy's Reactor Pilot Program highlight the accelerating deployment of next-generation nuclear technologies * Exosens' advanced neutron flux monitoring detectors supported successful criticality demonstrations by Antares Nuclear and Valar Atomics, underscoring the relevance of its technologies across Small Modular Reactor (SMR) applications * These achievements are expected to translate into near-term pre-series production orders and support long-term demand for Exosens' nuclear instrumentation solutions Press release, Mérignac (France), 8 October 2026 - Exosens (EXENS; FR001400Q9V2), a high-tech company focused on providing mission- and performance-critical amplification, detection and imaging technologies, today announces its contribution to two successful criticality demonstrations for next-generation nuclear reactors under the U.S. Department of Energy's Reactor Pilot Program. In August 2025, the program initially selected 11 advanced reactor projects with the goal of bringing at least three reactor designs to criticality by 4 July 2026. The program exceeded that objective, with four projects reaching this milestone by the deadline. These achievements mark a decisive step towards the commercial deployment of next-generation nuclear technologies on an accelerated timeline in the United States, particularly across SMR applications. Against this backdrop, Exosens supplied high-performance neutron detectors and related technical expertise to Antares Nuclear and Valar Atomics, the developers behind the first two reactor designs to reach criticality as part of the DOE's Reactor Pilot Program. Integrated into safety-related neutron flux monitoring systems, these advanced detectors provide the measurements required to monitor reactor power and track the approach to criticality during start-up and testing. These achievements are expected to translate into pre-series production orders in the near term and support long-term demand for Exosens' nuclear instrumentation solutions across the U.S. market. "The move towards commercial deployment of next-generation nuclear technologies is accelerating in the United States, supported by increasing demand for reliable, carbon-free power, notably to meet the unprecedented energy requirements of AI-enabled data centers. This momentum is reinforcing investment in SMR technologies and driving demand for high-performance instrumentation designed for demanding nuclear environments, creating significant long-term growth opportunities for Exosens. Already providing advanced nuclear detection solutions for seven SMR-related projects across the United States and Europe, Exosens leverages its differentiated technologies, deep nuclear expertise and industrial capabilities to address these needs and support the long-term development of the SMR market," said Jérôme Cerisier, CEO of Exosens. "Achieving criticality is a defining milestone in next-generation reactor development. The progress made by Antares Nuclear and Valar Atomics demonstrates the pace of innovation across the U.S. nuclear industry. We are proud to have supported these successful demonstrations through Exosens' advanced neutron flux monitoring technologies, and look forward to helping reactor developers as they move from first-of-a-kind testing towards safe, reliable commercial deployment," said Cyril Barre, Nuclear Instrumentation Director at Exosens. Financial calendar * 27/10/2026: 9M 2026 revenue and adjusted gross margin (before market opening). * 22/02/2027: FY 2026 results (before market opening). About Exosens Exosens is a high-tech company with more than 85 years of experience in the innovation, development, manufacturing and sale of high-end electro-optical technologies in the fields of amplification, detection and imaging. Today, it offers its customers detectors and imaging solutions such as digital cameras, ion, electron, neutron and gamma-ray detectors as well as image intensifier tubes. This enables Exosens to address complex challenges in extremely demanding environments by providing its customers with tailor-made solutions. Thanks to its sustained investment, Exosens is internationally recognized as a major innovator in optoelectronics, with production and R&D activities carried out at 13 sites across Europe and North America and more than 2,000 employees. Exosens is listed on compartment A of the regulated market of Euronext Paris (Ticker: EXENS - ISIN: FR001400Q9V2). Exosens is a member of the Euronext Tech Leaders segment and is also included in several indices, including SBF 120, CAC All-Tradable, CAC Mid 60, FTSE Total Cap and MSCI France Small Cap. For more information: www.exosens.com. Investor Relations Media Relations