Critical Energy Raises $19M Seed for Geothermal Turbines
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Critical Energy, a company based in Hawthorne, California, has raised $19 million in a Seed round to develop factory-built turbines for geothermal power plants. The round was led by Susa Ventures and Upfront Ventures, with participation from MaC Venture Capital, Susquehanna Sustainable Investments, Humba Ventures, Scribble Ventures, and Underground Ventures. The company also secured $3 million in venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank, bringing its total early capital to $22 million.
The idea is to apply a manufacturing mindset to geothermal energy. Rather than building each plant as a one-off, Critical Energy is designing modular turbines that can be produced in a factory and assembled into power systems, an approach meant to bring down cost and speed up deployment.
The company’s roots help explain that thinking. CEO Spencer Jackson previously worked at SpaceX, where he contributed to Falcon Heavy, Starship, and the Raptor rocket engine, programs built around the discipline of producing complex hardware at scale. That experience now feeds into the company’s bet that geothermal turbines can be standardized and mass-produced.
The new capital will go toward completing Critical Energy’s first commercial project, a 2.5-megawatt installation scheduled to begin operating in 2027. That project will serve as the proof point for the modular approach, showing whether factory-built turbines can deliver reliable geothermal power on a commercial timeline.
Geothermal has drawn renewed interest as demand for steady, around-the-clock clean power climbs, particularly from energy-hungry data centers. By focusing on manufacturability, Critical Energy is positioning itself to scale faster than traditional plant-by-plant development would allow.