German start-up Proxima Fusion on Wednesday announced it had raised 130 million euros ($148 million) in a record funding round, with investors hopeful the company can soon develop the world’s first commercial nuclear fusion power plant.
The Series A financing round, which was co-led by investors Cherry Ventures and Balderton Capital, represents the largest private fusion investment round in Europe to date.
The buzz around nuclear fusion has kicked into overdrive in recent years. Advocates say the technology, which is the process that powers the sun and stars, can play a pivotal role in the energy transition.
Fusion energy is the process of jamming together two hydrogen atoms to form one helium atom, which releases massive amounts of power. Scientists and engineers have been scrambling to recreate and harness nuclear fusion since the theory was first understood in the 1930s.
“Fusion has become a real, strategic opportunity to shift global energy dependence from natural resources to technological leadership,” Proxima Fusion CEO and co-founder Francesco Sciortino said in a statement.
