Deep Fission is said to be going public again, and I have some questions

Another news story this week had déjà vu about it. Nuclear startup Deep Fission has announced it’s going public, hoping to get financial support to build underground reactors to run AI data.

Wait, didn’t I already write that article? I could have sworn I did.

oh well I did. Last September, Deep Fission said it went public through a separate merger with Surfside Acquisition, a Delaware shell company, and a sale where the private equity firm acquired an existing group to acquire the stock market – raising $30 million in a private placement at $3 a share. It now wants $157 million in a Nasdaq IPO at $24 to $26 a share. You can see my confusion.

It seems that the previous public list was public in name only. A separate merger with Surfside was completed, making Deep Fission a reporting company with SEC status, but its stock was not actually purchased. The company said it plans to list on the OTCQB, a marketplace for emerging companies that do not meet the listing requirements of major exchanges such as the NYSE or Nasdaq. But a search for Deep Fission on the OTCQB didn’t turn up any results, and the company, in its S-1, denied that its stock had ever been publicly traded.

In response to questions from TechCrunch, Deep Fission declined to comment, citing a quiet period ahead of its IPO.

Deep Fission’s new Nasdaq offering follows the traditional IPO process, with the offering potentially valuing the company at up to $1.66 billion. It’s a huge number for a company that a year ago was struggling to get $15 million in revenue.

Amazingly, the picture taken in The S-1 was filed on May 20 they are obviously more dangerous than those described in this article December delivery and the SEC. His time to fire his first reactor has decreased. Further, back in December, it hoped to meet the criteria – where the nuclear option is sustainable – by July 2026. Now, it does not provide an estimate.

Deep Fission shows that it is drilling tests well. It has also lost a lot of money.

One thing that hasn’t changed: The new S-1 statement contains the same warning of “significant concern” that appeared in December. If Deep Fission does not complete the IPO, it could run out of cash in the next 12 months.

In fact, the state of the capital base has been deteriorating in recent months. By March, the deficit had widened to $88.1 million from $56.2 million. In the last month and a half, the company’s income decreased by $ 6.4 million, or about 7%.

On the technology front, Deep Fission says it is now prioritizing drilling, perhaps a tacit acknowledgment that making holes in the ground is not as easy as it sounds.

The company says it has begun drilling the first of three test wells in March. The well will be used to collect data “up to a depth of 6,000 meters.” At eight inches in diameter, it is much smaller than it will be for commercial use.

The challenges of moving from an exam to a business can be overwhelming. Deep Fission is said to require craters 30 to 50 inches in diameter and a mile deep, though no specific measurements have been established. Even at the extreme end, his wells will be larger than those used in the oil and gas industry. And until Deep Fission knows how big a hole it can drill, it will be difficult to complete its reactor design.

So what has changed since December that would encourage big contributions to the nine-person countdown? The company received $80 million in funding, including $20 million from data center developer Blue Owl, which also signed a non-binding agreement on future power plants. However, this was not enough to stop the warning going on. It’s possible that Deep Fission is sitting on the goodies left over from the S-1, although it’s hard to believe given the rising IPO.

It is possible that the company and its supporters want to take advantage of the excitement of businesses due to disruptive forces. Last month, the launch of X-energy nuclear weapons became public Additional IPO. But unlike Deep Fission, X-force is making money and it is very close in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Licence Commission – a distinction that serves as a useful reminder that in a sector where interest can flow well ahead of technology and controls, calculation and progress are not the same.

It’s unclear what factors are driving Deep Fission to its IPO, but technological or commercial advancements don’t appear to be among them.