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A startup that didn’t exist at the beginning of 2026 is now worth a billion dollars. TAR, an Austin-based company building off-grid power systems for AI data centers, has closed a $120M Series A round led by Spark Capital, valuing the company at roughly $1B post-money.
The round also included contributions from existing investors Buckley Ventures and Align Fund. For a company founded this year by Pat Becker and Leonhard Soenke, reaching unicorn status in its first funding round is the kind of trajectory that makes seasoned founders quietly seethe into their cold brew.
Solving AI’s least glamorous problem
TAR is developing off-grid power systems designed to deliver energy at gigawatt scale, specifically for the computing infrastructure that AI companies are racing to build.
Spark Capital General Partner Will Reed framed the investment around that exact pain point, noting that escalating power needs have become a significant bottleneck in scaling compute capabilities. The firm’s prior investment in Anthropic, one of the leading AI model developers, and now its lead position in TAR suggest a thesis that spans the full stack: from the intelligence layer down to the physical infrastructure that makes it possible.
TAR is already working on a utility-scale project with a major neocloud provider, though the company hasn’t disclosed which one.
Where the money goes
TAR plans to deploy the $120M across several priorities. The company will expand its offices in Austin and San Francisco while growing its manufacturing and logistics facilities in West Texas.
Co-founder Pat Becker said the proceeds would facilitate strategic growth initiatives, which in practice means a significant hiring push. TAR is actively recruiting engineers, robotics specialists, and supply chain professionals, with a particular focus on talent from companies like Hut 8 and AES.
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