Commercial nuclear fusion power is not yet a reality. But venture capital flows into startups that are clean, safe, and virtually endless energy is no longer a distant dream.
Most fusion companies that have raised over $100 million are based in the US. Not Proxima Fusion is a German startup that secured a 130 million euro Series A round (approximately $148 million) led by Balderton Capital and Cherry Ventures.
This has so far brought Proxima’s public and private funds to date 185 million euros ($200 million), increasing the likelihood of becoming one of Europe’s top candidates in the race for a fission alternative.
Pursuits are not just for scientific fame. It is deeply intertwined with energy security. “As we wait for the early 2030s, we see fusion giants across geopolitical blocks,” predicted Francesco Sciortino, CEO and co-founder of Proxima, in an interview with TechCrunch.
Until now, Proxima had no way of becoming such a giant. The seed round in April 2024 was just 20 million euros ($21.7 million). Since then, Proxima has published plans for the Working Fusion Power Plant in a peer-reviewed journal.
This paper argued for a stellarator that confines the hot plasma in a ring long enough to use a magnetic field to generate fusion. Unlike the main alternative, Tokamaks, the steller’s twisted rings do not require plasma currents and make them more stable. Based on its proximity to Germany’s Wendelstein 7-X, the world’s largest stellarator, Proxima came up with its own Stellaris design.
Sciortino said the large amount of new funds reflected part of reaching this milestone in half the time he originally told investors. In the rounds that were subscribed, the company chose. “Now we have the right kind of partners to fund us not only in this stage but in the next stage.”
Both funds co-led the round could last. Balderton raised $1.3 billion in 2024 from early stage Fund IX and its growth fund II. As for Cherry, it closed its latest fund for $500 million in February 2025, splitting it into early stages and follow-ons from Series B onwards.
Sciortino estimates that venture capital will be required as an investment category “to win, film or take 2031.” From that point onwards, the company expects to seek other forms of capital. But before that, capital will be required to meet major milestones, including a critical hardware demonstration scheduled for 2027. In his view, funding was made possible by the understanding that “this is not an endless journey for current investors.”
Venture capital rules may not be sure that fusion will occur on that timeline, but they are willing to bet. Ian Hogarth, a partner of multiple founder-led funds, has now invested in Proxima three times, calling it “big shot.”
The future of nuclear fusion is particularly appealing to the Old Continent. “Proxima represents an opportunity to provide a decarbonised and stable baseload for all the downstream energy needs the world has and for Europe to play a global leadership role in driving the energy transition,” Hogarth told TechCrunch.
Proxima’s cap table is once again very European, with round participants including Bayern Capital, Club Degli Investitri, Deeptech and Crimate Fonz (DTCF), Elaia, HTGF, Leitmotif, Lightspeed, Omnes Capital, UVC Partners and more.
“We consider Proxima to be thoroughly European, not just German,” Sciortino said. Proxima has its headquarters and laboratory in Munich, where it is spun from the Max Planck Plasma Physics Institute (IPP). However, there are also teams at the Paul Scheller Institute in Switzerland and the Fusion Energy Centre, the UK’s National Institute for Fusion and Energy, near Oxford.
Cioltino, a physicist in the background, is originally from Italy, but has worked on fusion research in Switzerland in the UK and then had several reasons for his return to Europe at MIT in the US, but speaks to the sentiment reflected in investors.