German startup Proxima Fusion has raised €130 million (US$148 million) in a series A funding round led by Balderton Capital and Cherry Ventures.

This funding brings the company’s total financing to over €185 million (US$200 million), positioning it among Europe’s leading firms in commercial nuclear fusion technology.

The new funding will aid Proxima Fusion’s plans, including a critical hardware demonstration set for 2027.

Proxima Fusion is working on a fusion reactor known as a stellarator. This technology employs magnetic fields to confine hot plasma for energy production.

Headquartered in Munich, the company was spun off from the Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics. Proxima Fusion has teams across Europe, including in Switzerland and the UK.

🔗 Source: TechCrunch

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Europe’s strategic pivot to fusion for energy independence

Proxima’s European-focused funding round reflects a broader continental strategy to reclaim energy sovereignty through fusion technology.

Europe’s energy security concerns have intensified after years of dependence on imported fossil fuels and even renewable technologies from external sources, making fusion particularly attractive as a domestic energy solution 1.

The continent starts from a position of strength with a notable lead in magnetic confinement fusion researchers and devices compared to the US, creating a foundation for Proxima to build upon 1.

Geopolitical fragmentation has accelerated private fusion investment, with the UK’s exit from the ITER project post-Brexit redirecting funds toward domestic initiatives like STEP while creating opportunities for startups 2.

Francesco Sciortino’s prediction of “fusion giants in each geopolitical block” by the early 2030s aligns with expert assessments that 70% of specialists believe fusion devices could be operational by 2035 1.

The race for energy leadership extends beyond Europe, with China heavily investing in projects like the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) with ambitious goals for operational fusion by 2028 3.

2️⃣ The stellarator renaissance in fusion research

Proxima’s focus on stellarator technology represents a significant comeback for a design that was initially overshadowed by the Soviet-developed tokamak approach in the 1950s 4.