Munich-based startup Proxima Fusion has secured an additional 15 million euros. This brings the company’s total funding to 200 million euros (230 million US dollars). The fresh capital comes, among others, from Italian state fund CDP Venture Capital and the European Innovation Council (EIC). The Brevan Howard Macro Venture Fund also participated.
Italy’s investment through CDP underscores the importance of fusion energy for Europe’s energy sovereignty. CDP invested through its “Large Ventures” and “Corporate Partners I Energy Tech” funds. The latter specifically supports companies developing technologies for the energy transition.
“Europe’s deeptech ecosystem plays a central role in developing future energy solutions. Fusion energy can foster technological independence, strengthen industrial competitiveness, and accelerate the growth of a carbon-neutral economy. We are convinced that Proxima will deliver and transform the global energy landscape”,
says Alessandro Scortecci, Chief Investment Officer – Direct Investments at CDP.
From capital to hardware
Proxima Fusion is putting the funds directly into industrial implementation. Just three months after closing Series A, the team has already grown by 20 percent to 100 employees. With the capital, the company is securing long-term supply of high-temperature superconductor tape, starting production of the first non-planar HTS magnets, and building its own cable production facility. In addition, prototypes of vacuum vessel segments are being created to demonstrate design, manufacturing, and assembly processes for stellarators.
CEO Francesco Sciortino describes the mission:
“Proxima unites public and private partners and is becoming a truly European company – with expertise, talent, and capital from across Europe. Together, we can fulfill the promise of commercial fusion energy. Our roots lie in Germany, based on the groundbreaking Wendelstein 7-X stellarator experiment at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics. We combine this heritage with a pan-European team and investor base to bring Europe to the forefront of the global fusion race.”
Proxima Fusion was spun out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in 2023 to build the first generation of fusion power plants with QI-HTS stellarators. The goal: completion of the Stellarator Model Coil by 2027 and construction of the demonstration stellarator “Alpha”, which is intended to deliver net energy gain for the first time.
