The Munich startup Proxima Fusion pursues a magnetic-based fusion approach and is working on a reactor based on the stellarator principle. In May of last year, the spin-off from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) completed a financing of seven million euros. Now the young company is securing fresh capital once again. The seed round of €20 million is led by Redalpine – with participation from Bayern Kapital, the DeepTech & Climate Fund, and the Max Planck Foundation. Existing investors UVC Partners Plural, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Wilbe, and Visionaries Club are also participating in the round.
Building the first generation of fusion power plants
With the €20 million raised, Proxima Fusion aims to accelerate the construction of the first generation of fusion power plants. The Munich startup has set itself the goal of enabling a new era of scalable emission-free energy. The technology is based on the principle of optimized quasi-isodynamic (QI) stellarators and high-temperature superconductors.
QI stellarators represent one of the most promising technologies for harnessing CO2-free energy. Fundamental scientific questions in magnetic fusion have been intensively researched over more than six decades. However, generating sustained and economically viable fusion energy has remained a challenge. Proxima Fusion builds on the results of the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) experiment, the world’s largest stellarator at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics.
Accelerating development & expanding the team
Francesco Sciortino, co-founder and CEO of Proxima Fusion:
“In April 2023, we started technical optimization and development of high-temperature superconductor magnets. We’re making tremendous progress in integrated design with our StarFinder automation system. Support from top-tier investors confirms the high quality of our team and its pioneering impact.”
In addition to accelerated development in hardware and software, Proxima Fusion will use the seed financing primarily to expand its team.
Benjamin Erhart, General Partner at UVC Partners:
“Proxima Fusion’s strengths in automated design, AI-assisted engineering, high-temperature superconductor magnet technology, as well as the team’s rapid growth and capabilities give us confidence that fusion energy in power plant operations will become a reality.”
