Earthineering Heads to Austin for Fed Supernova, Enters Capital Factory Portfolio
Earthineering CEO Dr. Kevin Peter Hickerson during the TRL 1-4 presentations at Fed Supernova 2026.
August 19 - Capital Factory’s Fed Supernova 2026 in Austin, Texas, brings together entrepreneurs, government, and industry for dual-use defense tech. The Earthineering Company was delighted to head to this year’s Fed Supernova to promote our high-temperature Kaon reactor built to produce process heat.
The Earthineering Company is also excited to announce that we are now a Capital Factory portfolio company. Earthineering CEO Dr. Kevin Peter Hickerson stated, “There is no place better than Capital Factory for a startup company, and we were so impressed by Austin as a startup hub.” Capital Factory’s incredible resources, customers, and network will promote our future success. Co-founder David Blau highlighted that Capital Factory’s “Fed Supernova was a fantastic event that allowed us to showcase our technology and business plan, and sparked interest among several investors."
During the Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 1-4 presentations, Dr. Hickerson made the case for high-temperature nuclear-powered process heat. “Most energy is used in industry to get things hot. Nowhere is that more important than on the Moon.” He explained how process heat can extract so many important resources for the American Moon Base. Speaking to Fed Supernova 2026’s theme of dual-use solutions, he detailed how we will use nuclear power to produce synthetic hydrocarbons, particularly for forward-deployable fuels (stay tuned on that!).
CFO Trey Brundige remarked on the unique opportunity that Fed Supernova presents. “Fed Supernova put both halves of our capital picture in the same room,” said Brundige. “The federal/commercial side understands why high-temperature process heat is a hard problem, and the investor side is increasingly willing to underwrite companies solving it. Conversations that normally take a quarter of scheduling happened over three days."
It was a great opportunity for Earthineering as a Capital Factory portfolio company to feature in the event’s Dual-Use Startup Crawl, where Business Development Associate Lake Dodson and Communications Correspondent Blaze Grabowski pitched our reactor to investors and business partners. At the crawl, Lake noted that “Capital Factory and Fed Supernova have such a density of changemakers and innovators from across the country.”
Business Development Associate, Lake Dodson, and Communications Correspondent, Blaze Grabowski, holding regolith simulants for the Dual-Use Starup Crawl at Fed Supernova 2026.
Our team spans across the country, so Austin was the perfect place for us to all assemble. Communications Correspondent Blaze Grabowski noted “This was my first-ever business trip, and I was so amazed by our team and our potential to lead and be problem-solvers for the future.” With a new space race ahead, with the energy challenges and opportunities of the 21st century, and with the vast opportunities presented by nuclear-powered process heat, The Earthineering Company is on a mission to meet this moment and reshape the nuclear industry for the future.
