Super-rich individuals like Bill Gates and Jack Ma have been investing in companies focused on commercializing nuclear fusion.

Recently, IT Juzi published an article focusing on the entrepreneurship and investment in the domestic nuclear fusion track. It analyzed and summarized that currently, 12 domestic nuclear fusion companies have received financing, with a total amount exceeding tens of billions of yuan.

Currently, the commercialization of nuclear fusion in China is still in its infancy, and the country is making significant research investments. The main investors include central state - owned enterprises, national large - scale funds, and local state - owned capital. Market - oriented venture capital institutions and CVC industrial giants have also entered the field.

Now, let's focus on foreign countries:

Which startups are there in the nuclear fusion track?

Who are the investors supporting this track?

These leading US nuclear fusion companies are worth paying attention to

Globally, apart from China, US nuclear fusion companies stand out the most.

According to IT Juzi data, there have been 23 publicly disclosed investment events in the US nuclear fusion track so far. Nine companies have received investment, and the total financing amount is estimated to reach 26.9 billion yuan.

Among them, the companies with the highest financing include Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Pacific Fusion, Helion, and Zap Energy. Each of them has raised over one billion yuan in total.

Figure: US nuclear fusion companies with the highest financing. Source: IT Juzi

Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is a US company dedicated to the commercialization of nuclear fusion reactions. It was spun off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2018, combining MIT's decades - long nuclear fusion research results with the speed and flexibility of the private sector.

In terms of technical routes, CFS focuses on the tokamak device and utilizes innovative high - temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet technology. The rare - earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) high - temperature superconductor developed in cooperation with MIT can produce ultra - strong fusion magnets, enabling a more compact design of the fusion device, significantly reducing costs, and accelerating the commercialization process of nuclear fusion.

So far, CFS has raised over $2 billion, making it the startup that has received the most private capital in the nuclear fusion field. Investors include Tiger Global Management, Bill Gates, Google, and Italian energy giant Eni.

Figure: Rendering of a nuclear fusion power plant, sourced from the website of the US Federal Fusion Systems Company

In June 2024, CFS signed a $15 million grant agreement with the US Department of Energy as part of the Department's milestone - based nuclear fusion development plan to advance the research and development goals of commercial nuclear fusion energy.

Pacific Fusion was founded in 2023, with founders including Eric Lander and Will Regan.

Eric Lander led the International Human Genome Project. He is an outstanding geneticist, molecular biologist, and mathematician. He also served as a science advisor to the Biden administration. He attracted top - tier talents with his experience. Will Regan also has an impressive resume. As the founder and president of the company, he was a researcher at the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA - E) of the US Department of Energy and holds a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley.

In terms of technical route selection, Pacific Fusion focuses on pulsed magnetic - driven inertial confinement fusion. This method involves filling deuterium - tritium fuel into a small container and using a rapidly rising large - current pulse to magnetically compress and heat the fuel, enabling it to reach the conditions required for nuclear fusion.

Since its establishment, Pacific Fusion has quickly attracted high attention from the capital market and successfully obtained a financing commitment of $900 million. This round of financing was led by General Catalyst, and the investor lineup is luxurious, including technology giants such as former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Breakthrough Energy Ventures founded by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Lowercarbon Capital focusing on decarbonization projects, and well - known Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr.

Helion was founded in 2013 by David Kirtley, John Slough, Chris Pihl, and George Votroubek.

The four founders have more than 30 years of rich experience in the fields of nuclear fusion, aerospace engineering, and astrophysics. They used to work together at MSNW in Redmond, Washington, a company mainly engaged in research and development related to nuclear fusion energy and advanced space propulsion. It also cooperated with the University of Washington, mainly researching the application of plasma physics in rocket propulsion.

Since its establishment, Helion has achieved remarkable results in financing and has raised up to $570 million in venture capital so far.

Among them, Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, led a huge investment of $375 million in 2021.

In June 2021, Helion became the first private fusion company to heat fusion plasma to 100 million degrees Celsius, a key milestone towards commercialization. In July of the same year, the construction of facilities related to the seventh - generation fusion generator Polaris began. Polaris is expected to be the first fusion device capable of demonstrating net power production, and if the goal is achieved, it will provide strong support for the subsequent construction of commercial power plants.

Zap Energy was founded in 2017 by Benj Conway (CEO), Brian A. Nelson (CTO), and Uri Shumlak (Chief Scientist).

Its technology is derived from the research results of the University of Washington. It is a spin - off company of the Fusion Z - pinch Experiment (FuZE) team and cooperates with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has a profound foundation in nuclear fusion research, with advanced scientific research facilities and top - tier scientific research talents. Through resource sharing and joint research, the two sides have continuously made breakthroughs in key fields such as plasma physics, materials science, and energy conversion, accelerating the process of bringing Zap Energy's technology from the laboratory to commercial applications.

In terms of financing, Zap Energy has also achieved remarkable results. In 2021, the company received Series B investment, and since then, it has developed rapidly. In 2022, it successfully completed a $160 million Series C financing.

Global venture capital institutions focusing on nuclear fusion

Looking at the investors behind these companies, IT Juzi found that the investors in this foreign track include technology giants, top - tier venture capitalists, and energy industry enterprises.

From the perspective of investors, which institutions are more active in the global nuclear fusion field?

IT Juzi data shows that Lowercarbon Capital has made five investments and is currently the most active venture capital institution in the global nuclear fusion field.

It is reported that Lowercarbon Capital is a venture capital institution focusing on the field of addressing climate change. It plays an active role in promoting the development of low - carbon technologies and has invested in four nuclear fusion companies such as Xcimer Energy and Pacific Fusion.

One of the founders of this institution, Chris Sacca, was a Google employee and an early angel investor in companies such as Twitter, Uber, and Instagram. After announcing his withdrawal from the venture capital circle in early 2017, he and his wife turned to investing in the climate field less than a year later. As the investment team and portfolio expanded, Lowercarbon Capital was established.

This fund focuses on technologies and methods including carbon reduction, carbon sequestration, and any means to prevent global warming.

Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) is also a VC institution focusing on climate change. It has invested in three US nuclear fusion companies, Type One Energy, Zap Energy, and Commonwealth Fusion Systems, and is very active.

It is understood that BEV was founded in 2015, led by Bill Gates and co - initiated by more than a dozen billionaires.

BEV adopts the "super LP system". The core investors are all top - tier global business leaders, their family offices, foundations, or sovereign/enterprise investment platforms. Currently, the publicly disclosed LPs include Facebook co - founder Mark Zuckerberg, Virgin Group President Richard Branson, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, billionaire Jack Ma, venture capitalists Neil Shen, Masayoshi Son, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

This "long - term, high - threshold, large - scale" climate technology special fund currently manages assets of over $3.5 billion and is one of the most influential capital platforms in the global clean energy technology field.

BEV's investment track focuses on the "hardest nuts to crack" in energy transition - fusion (Zap Energy, Type One Energy, CFS), long - duration energy storage (Form Energy), green hydrogen (H2Pro), sustainable aviation fuel (LanzaJet), negative carbon technology, geothermal energy, next - generation batteries, AI exploration, etc.

Khosla Ventures was founded in 2004 by Vinod Khosla, a well - known figure in Silicon Valley and the co - founder of Sun Microsystems. It focuses on providing "venture assistance" to entrepreneurs engaged in the research and development of breakthrough technologies. Its investment fields are wide, covering technology, clean technology, agriculture, healthcare, etc.

Starlight Ventures was founded in 2017, focusing on four key areas: energy transition, synthetic biology industrialization, space technology, and new computing and communication platforms, and its investments are global.

In addition, Capricorn Investment Group and Mithril Capital Management have each made three investments in the nuclear fusion field, all in Helion.

Capricorn Investment Group was founded in 2000, co - founded by Jeff Skoll, the former president of eBay. Initially, it was established to manage his personal assets and the funds of the Skoll Foundation and Skoll Fund. Currently, it has become a well - known institution managing multi - asset class investment portfolios for families, foundations, and institutional investors. It mainly focuses on areas related to sustainable development, health and well - being, fintech, and software as a service (SaaS).

Mithril Capital Management was founded in 2012 by well - known venture capitalist Peter Thiel, along with Ajay Royan and Jim O'Neill. It mainly invests in the mid - to late - stage of the technology industry.

In addition, Google Ventures (GV) and YC have both supported US nuclear fusion startups.

It is worth noting that although Tencent has not publicly invested in domestic commercial nuclear fusion companies, in 2022, Tencent participated in the $45 million Series C financing of European nuclear fusion technology company First Light Fusion and was the lead investor.

It is reported that this company is derived from the spin - off of the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. Its core technical route - "inertial confinement projectile fusion" (referred to as projectile fusion) is a relatively innovative concept.

In March this year, First Light Fusion announced a strategic adjustment and will abandon the plan to build a nuclear fusion power plant and stop the construction of the proposed ignition demonstration plant Machine 4 developed in cooperation with the UK Atomic Energy Authority and Tracetebel. Instead, it will seek to establish business partnerships with other companies to accelerate the commercialization of its technology. This transformation will help achieve revenue earlier and reduce capital requirements.

This article is from the WeChat official account "IT Juzi" (ID: itjuzi521), author: Wu Meimei. Republished by 36Kr with permission.