Exclusive | They Led an Energy Department Overhaul. Now They Plan to Build Data Centers.

A facts-only brief, written by a local AI model from this article in The Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2026. It may contain mistakes, and it is not the article: the full story is at wsj.com.

Mavria, a Texas-based startup founded by three former officials from President Trump’s Energy Department, has raised $130 million at a $1 billion valuation to manufacture modular data centers. The company plans to produce standardized 5-megawatt units in a factory and transport them by truck to bypass lengthy grid connection delays. Co-founders Adam Blake, Nick Poradek, and Seth Cohen previously worked on nuclear power reforms and identified infrastructure gaps for artificial intelligence demand. Mavria intends to begin testing its first unit in early 2027 and scale production by midyear.

Background

• The founders served in various roles at the Energy Department, including as a senior adviser to the secretary and chief counsel for nuclear policy.
• Investment firm Paradigm, along with Liquid 2, Critical Frontier, and AMP, provided funding for the venture.
• The modular design allows units to be added incrementally and utilize excess local power capacity, avoiding the need for large-scale grid connections.
• Industry investors note that power supply access is a primary hurdle for data center construction, with modular approaches gaining traction to address infrastructure bottlenecks.

Read the full article at wsj.com

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