Latest news with #Stellaris
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
German fusion energy firm Proxima Fusion secures $150m financing
European fusion energy company Proxima Fusion has closed a €130m ($150m) Series A financing round, bringing its total funding to more than €185m in private and public capital. The Series A round, the largest private fusion investment in Europe to date, was jointly led by Cherry Ventures and Balderton Capital, with substantial contributions from a consortium of investors including UVC Partners, DeepTech & Climate Fonds, Elaia Partners, Visionaries Tomorrow and redalpine. redalpine led Proxima Fusion's seed round in 2024, just one year earlier. Proxima Fusion CEO and co-founder Francesco Sciortino stated: "Fusion has become a real, strategic opportunity to shift global energy dependence from natural resources to technological leadership. Proxima is perfectly positioned to harness that momentum by uniting a spectacular engineering and manufacturing team with world-leading research institutions, accelerating the path toward bringing the first European fusion power plant online in the next decade." This influx of capital bolsters Proxima's mission to pioneer commercial fusion energy, a move supported by the European Union and national governments including Germany, the UK, France and Italy, who view fusion as critical for achieving energy independence and sustainable economic growth. Cherry Ventures founding partner Filip Dames stated: 'We back founders solving humanity's hardest problems — and few are bigger than clean, limitless energy." "Proxima Fusion combines Europe's scientific edge with commercial ambition, turning world-class research into one of the most promising fusion ventures globally. This is deep tech at its best, and a bold signal that Europe can lead on the world stage.' Established in April 2023 as a spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP), Proxima Fusion maintains a strong public-private partnership with IPP. The company's approach to engineering is driven by simulations, utilising advanced computing and high-temperature superconducting (HTS) technologies. These strategies build upon the IPP's Wendelstein 7-X stellarator experiment's results. In early 2025 Proxima Fusion, alongside IPP, KIT and other partners, unveiled Stellaris — a stellarator concept that integrates physics, engineering and maintenance. The fresh investment will enable Proxima Fusion to complete its Stellarator Model Coil (SMC) by 2027, a crucial step in validating HTS technology for stellarators and promoting European HTS innovation. The company is finalising the location for Alpha, its demonstration stellarator, and is in discussions with several European governments. Alpha, expected to commence operations in 2031, will be pivotal for demonstrating net energy gain (Q>1) and advancing towards the first-of-its-kind fusion power plant. Proxima Fusion is also expanding its team, which currently exceeds 80 members, across three locations: its Munich headquarters, the Paul Scherrer Institute near Zurich and the Culham fusion campus near Oxford. "German fusion energy firm Proxima Fusion secures $150m financing" was originally created and published by Power Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Business Wire
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Proxima Fusion Raises €130M Series A to Build World's First Stellarator-Based Fusion Power Plant in the 2030S
MUNICH--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Proxima Fusion, Europe's fastest-growing fusion energy company, today announced the close of its €130 million ($150 million) Series A financing — the largest private fusion investment round in Europe. The Series A financing was co-led by Cherry Ventures and Balderton Capital. Significant participation also came from UVC Partners, DeepTech & Climate Fonds (DTCF), Plural, Leitmotif, Lightspeed, Bayern Kapital, HTGF, Club degli Investitori, Omnes Capital, Elaia Partners, Visionaries Tomorrow, Wilbe and redalpine, the latter of which led Proxima Fusion's seed round just one year ago. This brings Proxima Fusion's total funding to more than €185 million ($200 million) in private and public capital, accelerating its mission to build the world's first commercial fusion power plant based on a stellarator design. Francesco Sciortino, CEO and Co-founder of Proxima Fusion, said: "Fusion has become a real, strategic opportunity to shift global energy dependence from natural resources to technological leadership. Proxima is perfectly positioned to harness that momentum by uniting a spectacular engineering and manufacturing team with world-leading research institutions, accelerating the path toward bringing the first European fusion power plant online in the next decade." Shifting global energy dependence Proxima was founded in April 2023 as a spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP), with which it continues to work closely in a public-private partnership to lead Europe into a new era of clean energy. The EU, as well as national governments including Germany, UK, France and Italy, increasingly recognize fusion as a generational technology essential for energy sovereignty, industrial competitiveness, and carbon-neutral economic growth. By building on Europe's long-standing public fusion investment and industrial supply chains, Proxima Fusion is laying the groundwork for a new high-tech energy industry—one that transforms the continent from a leader in fusion research to a global powerhouse in fusion deployment. 'We back founders solving humanity's hardest problems — and few are bigger than clean, limitless energy," said Filip Dames, Cherry Ventures Founding Partner."Proxima Fusion combines Europe's scientific edge with commercial ambition, turning world-class research into one of the most promising fusion ventures globally. This is deep tech at its best, and a bold signal that Europe can lead on the world stage.' Proxima is taking a simulation-driven approach to engineering that leverages advanced computing and high-temperature superconducting (HTS) technology to build on the groundbreaking results of the IPP's Wendelstein 7-X stellarator experiment. Just earlier this year, together with the IPP, KIT and other partners, Proxima unveiled Stellaris. As the first peer-reviewed stellarator concept to integrate physics, engineering, and maintenance considerations from the outset, Stellaris has been widely recognized as a major breakthrough for the fusion industry, advancing the case for quasi-isodynamic (QI) stellarators as the most promising pathway to a commercial fusion power plant. Daniel Waterhouse, Partner at Balderton Capital, said:"Stellarators aren't just the most technologically viable approach to fusion energy—they're the power plants of the future, capable of leading Europe into a new era of clean energy. Proxima has firmly secured its position as the leading European contender in the global race to commercial fusion. We are thrilled to partner with Proxima's game-changing team of engineers, alongside Europe's top manufacturers, to build a company that will be transformational for Europe." With this new funding, the company will complete its Stellarator Model Coil (SMC) in 2027, a major hardware demonstration that will de-risk high-temperature superconductor (HTS) technology for stellarators and stimulate European HTS innovation. Proxima will also finalize a site for Alpha, its demonstration stellarator, for which it is in talks with several European governments already. Alpha is scheduled to begin operations in 2031, and is the key step to demonstrating Q>1 (net energy gain) and moving towards a first-of-a-kind fusion power plant. The company will continue to grow its 80+-strong team across three offices: at the headquarters in Munich, at the Paul Scherrer Institute near Zurich (Switzerland), and at the Culham fusion campus near Oxford (UK). ' Fusion energy is entering a new era—moving from lab-based science to industrial-scale engineering, ' said Dr. Francesco Sciortino. 'This investment validates our approach and gives us the resources to deliver hardware that is essential to make clean fusion power a reality.' Ian Hogarth, Partner at Plural said: 'Proxima Fusion exemplifies a new kind of European ambition - a full force effort to develop the world's first fusion power plant. Since their first round of funding two years ago, Francesco and the team have hit extremely challenging milestones ahead of schedule and hired a team that spans plasma physics, advanced magnet design and computer simulation. Their peer-reviewed stellarator power plant design concept confirms that fusion really can be commercially viable, and creates an opportunity for Europe to be first to the target.' About Proxima Fusion Proxima Fusion spun out of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in 2023 to build fusion power plants using QI-HTS stellarators. Proxima has since assembled a world-class team of engineers, scientists and operators from leading companies and institutions, such as the IPP, MIT, Harvard, SpaceX, Tesla, and McLaren. By taking a simulation-driven approach to engineering that leverages advanced computing and high-temperature superconductors to build on the groundbreaking results of the IPP's W7-X stellarator, Proxima is leading Europe into a new era of clean energy, for good.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scientists reach pivotal breakthrough in quest for limitless energy: 'We're not a science project anymore'
A German startup, Proxima Fusion, has developed a plan to generate limitless energy in a working fusion power plant. The plan is a significant development because nuclear fusion creates abundant energy while releasing zero carbon pollution and only small amounts of radiation. In contrast, nuclear fission creates dangerous radioactive waste. As TechCrunch reported, Proxima Fusion was founded two years ago. The company published its plan in Fusion Engineering and Design to publicly share its findings with the world and promote open-source science. Proxima Fusion is on a mission to bring safe, clean, limitless energy to the grid. The company is at the forefront of fusion research and believes stellarators are the power plants of the future. A stellarator is a magnetic confinement fusion device and machine that keeps plasma in a doughnut-like shape. Scientists can use the strong magnetic fields of stellarators to control plasma particles and create fusion with greater flexibility than tokamaks, another technology scientists use. Proxima Fusion's Stellaris design demonstrates how a fusion power plant could operate continuously and reliably without issues such as tokamaks' instability and disruptions. The startup's design only uses external magnets to make the process more stable and continuous. "We summarize a comprehensive reactor study, ranging from optimization of the plasma confinement region to first wall cooling, divertor considerations, blanket design, magnet quench safety, support structures, and remote maintenance solutions," the scientists wrote. Francesco Sciortino, co-founder and CEO of Proxima Fusion, said: "Our American friends can see it. Our Chinese friends can see it. Our claim is that we can execute on this faster than anyone else, and we do that by creating a framework for integrated physics, engineering, and economics. So we're not a science project anymore." Fusion power plants have the potential to bring clean, reliable energy to the grid, creating a more sustainable future and promoting a healthier planet and people. Meanwhile, other companies, including Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Helical Fusion, Zap Energy, and Marathon Fusion, are also working to advance the field of fusion energy. The Proxima Fusion scientists completed their Stellaris design a year quicker than predicted. They obtained millions of dollars from the German government, the European Union, and venture capitalists to fund their research. Should the U.S. invest more in battery innovations? Absolutely Depends on the project We're investing enough We should invest less Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Proxima Fusion has maintained its position as a global leader in the race to commercial fusion. According to its plans, it will build a fully operational fusion reactor by 2031. You can learn more about Proxima Fusion's technology on its website. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scientists reach pivotal breakthrough in quest for limitless energy: 'We're not a science project anymore'
A German startup, Proxima Fusion, has developed a plan to generate limitless energy in a working fusion power plant. The plan is a significant development because nuclear fusion creates abundant energy while releasing zero carbon pollution and only small amounts of radiation. In contrast, nuclear fission creates dangerous radioactive waste. As TechCrunch reported, Proxima Fusion was founded two years ago. The company published its plan in Fusion Engineering and Design to publicly share its findings with the world and promote open-source science. Proxima Fusion is on a mission to bring safe, clean, limitless energy to the grid. The company is at the forefront of fusion research and believes stellarators are the power plants of the future. A stellarator is a magnetic confinement fusion device and machine that keeps plasma in a doughnut-like shape. Scientists can use the strong magnetic fields of stellarators to control plasma particles and create fusion with greater flexibility than tokamaks, another technology scientists use. Proxima Fusion's Stellaris design demonstrates how a fusion power plant could operate continuously and reliably without issues such as tokamaks' instability and disruptions. The startup's design only uses external magnets to make the process more stable and continuous. "We summarize a comprehensive reactor study, ranging from optimization of the plasma confinement region to first wall cooling, divertor considerations, blanket design, magnet quench safety, support structures, and remote maintenance solutions," the scientists wrote. Francesco Sciortino, co-founder and CEO of Proxima Fusion, said: "Our American friends can see it. Our Chinese friends can see it. Our claim is that we can execute on this faster than anyone else, and we do that by creating a framework for integrated physics, engineering, and economics. So we're not a science project anymore." Fusion power plants have the potential to bring clean, reliable energy to the grid, creating a more sustainable future and promoting a healthier planet and people. Meanwhile, other companies, including Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Helical Fusion, Zap Energy, and Marathon Fusion, are also working to advance the field of fusion energy. The Proxima Fusion scientists completed their Stellaris design a year quicker than predicted. They obtained millions of dollars from the German government, the European Union, and venture capitalists to fund their research. Should the U.S. invest more in battery innovations? Absolutely Depends on the project We're investing enough We should invest less Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Proxima Fusion has maintained its position as a global leader in the race to commercial fusion. According to its plans, it will build a fully operational fusion reactor by 2031. You can learn more about Proxima Fusion's technology on its website. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Associated Press
26-02-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Proxima Fusion and Partners Publish First of a Kind Fusion Power Plant Concept to Bring Limitless, Safe, Clean Energy to the Grid
, Europe's fastest-growing fusion energy startup, and its partners* today published a new peer-reviewed paper announcing the world's first integrated concept for a commercial fusion power plant designed to operate reliably and continuously. Published in Fusion Engineering and Design, the Stellaris concept is a major milestone for the fusion industry— advancing the case for quasi-isodynamic (QI) stellarators as the most promising pathway to a commercial fusion power plant. Stellaris builds on the record-breaking results of the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) research experiment in Germany, the most advanced QI stellarator prototype in the world, directed by the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) and the product of over €1.3B in funding from the German Federal Government and the European Union. From W7-X to the future: the path to commercial fusion energy The Stellaris work is the result of a public-private partnership between Proxima Fusion engineers and IPP scientists. As the IPP's first spin-out company, Proxima Fusion has been building on the institute's cutting-edge experimental and theoretical work, with a strong engineering workforce from the likes of Google, Tesla, McLaren Formula-1, and SpaceX. Dr. Francesco Sciortino, Co-Founder and CEO of Proxima Fusion, said: 'The path to commercial fusion power plants is now open. Stellaris is the first peer-reviewed concept for a fusion power plant that is designed to operate reliably and continuously, without the instabilities and disruptions seen in tokamaks and other approaches. Given increasing global energy demands and the escalating need for European energy security, unlocking limitless, clean energy through fusion has never been more urgent, and Proxima is committed to leading Europe into a fusion-powered future.' Fusion power in the next decade Stellaris is designed to produce much more power per unit volume than any stellarator power plant ever designed before. The much stronger magnetic fields that are enabled by high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet technology allow for a significant reduction in size compared to previous stellarator concepts. Smaller reactors can be built more quickly, provide more efficient energy generation, and promise to be more cost-effective in both construction and operation. The Stellaris concept also makes use of only currently available materials, meaning it will be buildable by expanding on today's supply chains. Proxima's simulation-driven engineering approach has enabled rapid design iterations, leveraging advanced computing. Stellaris is the first QI stellarator-based power plant design that simultaneously meets all major physics and engineering constraints, as demonstrated through electromagnetic, structural, thermal, and neutronic simulations. With the marriage of physics and engineering, enabled by the partnership with the IPP, Proxima is now poised to take a bold leap with its demonstration stellarator, Alpha, as opposed to building several devices with incremental improvements over a period of decades. The groundbreaking technical features of the Stellaris design include: a magnetic field design that obeys all key physics optimization goals for energy production; support structures that can bear the forces present when operating at full power; a showcase that HTS technology can be effectively integrated in high field stellarators, while ensuring effective heat management on internal surfaces; a neutron blanket concept that is adapted to the complex geometry of stellarators From vision to reality: bringing the power plant to life Through its Stellarator Model Coil (SMC) demo magnet in 2027, Proxima Fusion will fully de-risk HTS technology for stellarators. The company will demonstrate that stellarators are capable of net energy production with its demo stellarator Alpha in 2031, and aims to deliver limitless, safe, clean fusion energy to the grid in the 2030s. Prof. Dr. Per Helander, Head of the Stellarator Theory Division at the Max Planck IPP, said: 'IPP is a pioneer of stellarator optimization. In recent years we have been able to design stellarators whose physics properties are predicted to grant unprecedented performance. This still leaves many technological and engineering challenges, problems that have been courageously addressed by Proxima Fusion in collaboration with IPP in this first of its kind study. This is important and necessary work on the path toward a fusion power plant, which we hope to accelerate through this collaboration.' Dr. Jorrit Lion, Co-Founder and Chief Scientist of Proxima Fusion, said: 'For the first time, we are showing that fusion power plants based on QI-HTS stellarators are possible. The Stellaris design covers an unparalleled breadth of physics and engineering analyses in one coherent design. To make fusion energy a reality, we now need to proceed to a full engineering design and continue developing enabling technologies.' Ian Hogarth, a Partner at Plural, one of Proxima Fusion's earliest investors, added: 'The world needs fusion energy as soon as possible. Proxima Fusion's breakthrough puts the company firmly in the lead to create the stellarator power plant of the future. By combining advanced simulation and HTS magnets, the team has designed the most high-performance, grid-ready fusion power plant in the world in Stellaris. We are excited about the world-class team of physicists, mechanical engineers and magnet experts coming together in Munich to build a first-of-a-kind device.' *Partners: Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Instituto Superior Técnico Lisboa University of Wisconsin-Madison About Proxima Fusion Proxima Fusion spun out of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in 2023 to build the first generation of fusion power plants using QI-HTS stellarators. Proxima has since assembled a world-class team of scientists and engineers from leading companies and institutions including the IPP, MIT, Harvard, SpaceX, Tesla, and McLaren. By taking a simulation-driven approach to engineering that leverages advanced computing and high-temperature superconductors to build on the groundbreaking results of the IPP's W7-X experiment, Proxima is leading Europe into a new era of clean energy, for good. Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 02/26/2025 08:01 AM/DISC: 02/26/2025 08:02 AM
