Proxima Fusion Secures €130M Series A to Accelerate European Fusion Power Ambitions

The elusive promise of commercial nuclear fusion power is drawing significant venture capital, with European deep tech leading the charge. German startup Proxima Fusion has announced a substantial €130 million Series A funding round, co-led by Balderton Capital and Cherry Ventures. This latest infusion brings Proxima's total public and private funding to over €185 million, positioning it as a formidable contender in the global race for clean, virtually limitless energy. Proxima Fusion, which spun off from Germany’s Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics (IPP), is focused on developing fusion power plants based on stellarator technology. Unlike tokamaks, stellarators utilize twisted magnetic fields to confine hot plasma, offering enhanced stability without requiring a plasma current. The company recently published its detailed Stellaris design in a peer-reviewed journal, a significant milestone achieved in half the time originally projected to investors, according to CEO and co-founder Francesco Sciortino. The oversubscribed round reflects investor confidence in Proxima’s technical progress and ambitious timeline. Sciortino emphasized the strategic importance of securing partners who can support the company through its next growth phases. Key milestones include a critical hardware demonstration slated for 2027, with the company aiming to transition from venture capital to other forms of financing around 2031. The funding round saw strong European participation, with investors including Bayern Kapital, Club degli Investitori, DeepTech & Climate Fonds (DTCF), Elaia, HTGF, Leitmotif, Lightspeed, OMNES Capital, and UVC Partners. While headquartered in Munich, Proxima Fusion maintains teams across Europe, including at Switzerland’s Paul Scherrer Institute and the U.K.’s Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, underscoring its pan-European identity and ambition to establish the continent as a leader in the energy transition.