Prime Highlights
- Proxima Fusion has secured €411 million in funding, with Google among the strategic investors.
- The company aims to build Europe’s first commercial fusion power plant later in the 2030s using stellarator technology.
Key Facts
- Proxima Fusion is a German startup developing stellarator-based nuclear fusion technology for commercial clean energy generation.
- Nuclear fusion generates energy by combining hydrogen atoms, unlike conventional nuclear plants that produce power through atomic fission.
Background
Proxima Fusion, an organization located in Germany, has managed to raise €411 million (equivalent to $468 million) in a financing round from Google to facilitate faster development of the first-ever commercial nuclear fusion power plant in Europe. It shows the increasing interest in fusion power generation.
This financing round was led by XTX Ventures and East X Ventures, with Google and RWE as strategic investors. Existing investors, including Plural, UVC Partners, Balderton and Cherry Ventures, also participated. The latest investment values Proxima Fusion at $2.7 billion.
Proxima is also developing stellarator fusion technology, which intends to create energy by fusing hydrogen atoms to create helium. Unlike conventional nuclear power plants that use fission, fusion promises carbon-free energy with minimal long-lived radioactive waste, although the technology has not yet been commercialised.
The company plans to build a fusion demonstrator in the early 2030s, followed by a commercial power plant later in the decade. The new funding will support the expansion of high-temperature superconducting cable and magnet production, engineering capabilities and manufacturing systems. Proxima also plans to recruit engineers and operations specialists to speed up development.
Chief Executive Officer Francesco Sciortino said Europe is competing with the United States and China to build the world’s first commercial fusion power plant and that the funding reflects investor confidence in Europe’s ability to develop globally competitive clean energy technologies.
Although Proxima is Europe’s best-funded fusion startup, it still trails major US rivals such as Commonwealth Fusion Systems and Helion Energy, which have raised significantly larger amounts to advance their fusion technologies.