Controllable nuclear fusion continues to attract massive investment, and Wuhan Supermag has completed a multi-million-yuan angel round financing

A new and powerful player has entered the superconducting magnet arena.

Recently, Wuhan Superconducting Magnet Technology Co., Ltd. announced the completion of tens of millions of yuan in angel - round financing, led by Lihe Science and Technology Innovation and followed by Dongke Chuangxing. The funds will be used for team expansion, R & D iteration of superconducting magnets, and production capacity expansion to accelerate commercialization.

This startup, which originated from the National Pulsed Strong Magnetic Field Science Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, is entering the core high - end superconducting magnet market, which has long been monopolized by overseas companies, with a dual - breakthrough approach of "no liquid helium + no framework".

The technological foundation of Wuhan Superconducting Magnet comes from the 15 - year technology accumulation of its founder, Song Yunxing.

Public information shows that Song Yunxing, born in 1985, is a doctor of engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Since 2012, he has worked at the General Electric Global Research Center and the GE US headquarters for eight years, deeply involved in the core technology of high - end medical imaging superconducting magnets and participating in and leading multiple GE medical core magnet projects. In October 2020, Song Yunxing returned to China full - time and joined the National Pulsed Strong Magnetic Field Science Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, shifting to the domestic - oriented research and development path.

In the five years since his return, Song Yunxing's team has achieved multiple leaps from scientific research equipment to industrialized products: In 2024, they developed a 1.5T head magnetic resonance imaging superconducting magnet system; in May 2025, the frameless conduction - cooled NbTi low - temperature superconducting magnet achieved stable operation at a peak field strength of 9.0T.

A reporter from Star Market Daily learned from Wuhan Superconducting Magnet that currently, its self - developed no - liquid - helium and no - framework series of superconducting magnets have achieved small - batch delivery, covering four major fields: scientific research in quantum, high - end medical, industrial inspection, and controlled nuclear fusion.

One of the biggest bottlenecks in the commercialization of controlled nuclear fusion is the cost of the device. It is a common understanding in the industry that the cost of magnets can account for about 30% - 40% of the cost of a large - scale fusion reactor. The SPARC tokamak of the US company CFS is highly anticipated because it uses high - temperature superconducting magnets to significantly reduce the size and cost of the device.

The tokamak device uses a strong magnetic field to suspend and confine plasma at hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius in a vacuum chamber. The magnetic field strength directly determines the plasma confinement effect and the energy gain ratio. The tokamak device was invented by a team led by Soviet scientist Azimovici and consists of an annular vacuum chamber, coils for generating magnetic fields, and other auxiliary facilities.

Currently, global nuclear fusion is at a critical turning point from scientific verification to engineering demonstration. On the one hand, the ITER device (the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, the world's largest "artificial sun" cooperation project) is in the final stage of installation and commissioning, and the low - temperature test facilities for superconducting magnets have been put into operation; on the other hand, private fusion companies are raising funds intensively, and the compact, high - field - strength route has become the mainstream direction for commercial exploration, leading to a sharp increase in the demand for high - performance, low - cost, and mass - producible superconducting magnets.

An investor in the new energy field analyzed to a reporter from Star Market Daily that Wuhan Superconducting Magnet's frameless technology route can reduce the overall structural load and construction cost of the device through lightweight design. Its no - liquid - helium technology eliminates the risk of being restricted by helium resources, simplifies the operation and maintenance system to a certain extent, and reduces the probability of quenching, improving the safety and reliability of long - pulse operation. These three points precisely address the core pain points of nuclear fusion moving from the laboratory to commercial use - cost, supply chain, and continuous operation ability.

The high - end superconducting magnet market is not a new field, but core technologies and pricing power have long been in the hands of overseas manufacturers such as Bruker, Siemens, and GE. The geopolitical nature of liquid helium resources, the technological barriers of superconducting materials, and the engineering experience in magnet design form three entry thresholds.

The above - mentioned investor introduced that in the past three years, with the simultaneous explosion of domestic quantum computing, medical imaging, semiconductor inspection, and nuclear fusion industries, the window for domestic substitution of superconducting magnets is opening. Upstream enterprises such as Western Superconducting Technologies Co., Ltd. and Western Metal Materials Co., Ltd. have achieved large - scale production of superconducting wires. In the middle - stream magnet integration segment, players with different technology routes, such as Lianchuang Optoelectronics and Wuhan Superconducting Magnet, have emerged, and the synergy effect of the industrial chain from top to bottom is gradually emerging.

It is worth noting that the completion of the angel - round financing is just the starting point for the industrialization of Wuhan Superconducting Magnet. For high - end superconducting magnets to move from laboratory verification to large - scale commercial use, they face at least three challenges.

The first is engineering scale - up. Currently, the 9.0T frameless magnet is still in the category of small - size scientific research. The magnets required for nuclear fusion devices have a caliber of several meters and a coil weight of hundreds of tons. After size expansion, a series of engineering problems such as electromagnetic force, stress distribution, and cooling efficiency will arise, and the technical feasibility needs to be verified step by step.

The second is the maturity of the supply chain. The frameless structure places higher requirements on the consistency of superconducting wires, the precision of winding technology, and the performance of composite materials. The supporting ability of the upstream supply chain directly determines the mass - production cost and yield.

The third is the customer verification cycle. The decision - making process for magnet procurement in the medical, scientific research, and nuclear fusion fields is long, and the verification cycle is long. How startups can penetrate the customer system while maintaining the rhythm of technology iteration is the core test for commercialization.

Globally, superconducting magnets are at the intersection of technology route iteration and industrial pattern reshaping. Whether teams like Wuhan Superconducting Magnet, which originated from national large - scale scientific facilities and possess core original technologies, can seize this round of industrial window period and transform laboratory advantages into market advantages still needs time to prove.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Venture Capital Daily", author: Li Mingming, published by 36Kr with authorization.