Fusion Power on the Rise

Over the last several years, fusion power has gone from the butt of jokes — always a decade away! — to an increasingly tangible and tantalizing technology that has drawn investors off the sidelines.

The technology may be challenging to master and expensive to build today, but fusion promises to harness the nuclear reaction that powers the sun to generate nearly limitless energy here on Earth. If startups are able to complete commercially viable fusion power plants, then they have the potential to upend trillion-dollar markets.

Key Advancements

The bullish wave buoying the fusion industry has been driven by three advances: more powerful computer chips, more sophisticated AI, and powerful high-temperature superconducting magnets. Together, they have helped deliver more sophisticated reactor designs, better simulations, and more complex control schemes.

Notable Startups

• Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS): With a total raised of $3.94 billion, CFS has raised about a third of all private capital invested in fusion companies to date. Its latest round, which closed in July, added $1 billion to its coffers.
• Helion: The company plans to produce electricity from its reactor in 2028 and has raised $3.2 billion in committed capital.
• TAE Technologies: The company has raised $1.65 billion and has announced a merger with Trump Media & Technology Group.
• Pacific Fusion: The company has raised over $1 billion and will use inertial confinement to achieve fusion.
• Proxima Fusion: The company has raised over $682.9 million and is pursuing a stellarator design.

Other Notable Startups

• General Fusion: The company has raised over $442 million and is pursuing a magnetized target fusion (MTF) design.
• Zap Energy: The company uses an electric current to compress plasma and has raised $325 million.
• Tokamak Energy: The company uses a compact tokamak design and has raised $284 million.
• Focused Energy: The company uses laser pulses to compress a fuel target and has raised $277 million.
• Marvel Fusion: The company uses an inertial confinement approach and has raised $208 million.
• Type One Energy: The company is planning to build a fusion reactor on the site of a retired Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) coal power plant and has raised $174.5 million.
• Kyoto Fusioneering: The company is developing components for fusion power plants and has raised $121 million.
• First Light Fusion: The company uses an inertial confinement approach and has raised $140 million.
• Thea Energy: The company is using pixel-inspired magnets to build a stellarator and has raised $120 million.
• Xcimer: The company is following the basic science behind the National Ignition Facility's breakthrough net-positive experiment and has raised $101 million.