As the AI craze drives up the power demand for high-energy-consuming data centers, interest in nuclear energy is growing in the market – along with it, there is an increased demand for uranium, the fuel used in reactors. However, unlike most commodities that have large automated markets, uranium does not enjoy such facilities. To this day, uranium trading still requires traders to call brokers to inquire about prices, sign contracts sent via email, and work with storage facilities to complete the transfer of ownership. A startup based in New York, Uranium Digital, hopes to modernize this system by bringing uranium trading onto the blockchain.

The company announced on Thursday that it had completed a $16.5 million Series A financing round, which was completed last month. The company stated that this funds will be used to expand its electronic trading platform. This platform allows institutions to buy and sell uranium, while the blockchain tracks the ownership of the relevant materials stored in warehousing facilities.

This round of financing was led by Blockchain Capital, with existing investors Portal Ventures and Christian Angermayer's subsidiary Apeiron Investment Group also participating. Prior to this financing, the company completed a $6.1 million seed round of financing in 2025, with support from Framework Ventures. Uranium Digital refused to disclose the valuation after the latest round of financing.

Uranium Digital CEO and Co-Founder Alex Dymala - Dolesky told Fortune: "The entire goal of Uranium Digital is to build the technical infrastructure that will make nuclear fuel trading possible, in a similar manner to how traditional financial markets trade commodities such as gold, oil, and natural gas."

Nuclear energy, as well as the uranium that powers it, clearly face an increasing demand. Last month, Amazon announced a partnership with reactor developer X-energy and power utility company AEP to explore the construction of 12 small modular reactors in Indiana to power its data centers and regional grids. Meanwhile, Meta reached an agreement in January to assist reactor developer Oklo in building a nuclear power capacity of up to 1.2 gigawatts in Ohio, with the first power expected to be generated by 2030. Furthermore, in August 2025, Google announced a similar partnership with Kairos Power and the Tennessee Valley Authority, planning to bring online a 50-megawatt nuclear power plant by 2030.

But these reactors require uranium – and according to Dymala-Dolesky, due to the outdated market trading system, the process of buying and selling this fuel is still cumbersome.

Underdeveloped markets

While working at a hedge fund in New York dealing in commodities, Dymala-Dolesky came up with the idea of founding Uranium Digital. With a degree in economics and work experience at the Canadian investment bank Canaccord, he was already accustomed to trading metals such as copper and silver on screen. He also wanted to trade uranium in the same way, but found that there were no comparable options available in the market.

By 2024, he decided to resign in order to build this trading platform. He then invited Jack Rindner to join, who previously worked as a senior analyst in the corporate finance department at Goldman Sachs, and they became co-founders. In the same year, the two launched Uranium Digital. The company currently has 11 employees in Canada, New York, and Hong Kong.

Blockchain Capital and Yuan Han Li were originally investors in uranium mining companies. Later, while drinking coffee with a friend who works at Portal Ventures, they heard about Uranium Digital; Portal Ventures is the lead investor in this startup's pre-seed round of financing. Subsequently, this friend introduced him to Dymala-Dolesky.

Li indicates that when he introduced this company to his colleagues, their first reaction was surprise.

To be honest, everyone is quite confused because people don't realize just how outdated the uranium market actually is.

With further in-depth research, they found that this business can serve not only investors who wish to gain exposure to uranium prices but also miners who want to lock in selling prices, as well as utility companies that need to ensure a supply of fuel.