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Proxima Fusion

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Proxima Fusion
IndustryFusion power
FoundedApril 2023; 3 years ago (2023-04)
FoundersFrancesco Sciortino
Lucio Milanese
Jorrit Lion
Jonathan Schilling
Martin Kubie
HeadquartersMunich, Germany
Number of employees
90+ (2025)
Websitewww.proximafusion.com

Proxima Fusion is a European fusion energy company founded in 2023 in Munich, Germany, as the first research spin-off from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics.[1] Its stated goal is to design the first generation of fusion power plants using a quasi-isodynamic stellarator (QI stellarator).[2]

History

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Proxima was founded in April 2023 by Francesco Sciortino, Lucio Milanese, Jorrit Lion, Jonathan Schilling, and Martin Kubie, former scientists and engineers from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and X Development (was Google-X).[3]

The company initially raised €7.5 million in pre-seed funding from Plural Platform, UVC Partners, Visionaries Club, Wilbe, High-Tech Gründerfonds, and others, followed by a €20 million seed round led by redalpine, with participation from Bayern Kapital, DeepTech & Climate Fonds, and the Max Planck Foundation.[4] It has since been awarded more public funding from the European Innovation Council (source) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany).[5]

On June 28, 2024, Proxima announced that it would partner with the Paul Scherrer Institute to develop high-temperature superconducting magnets for its stellarators.[6]

In February 2025, Proxima presented a concept for a commercial fusion power plant named Stellaris.[7] That concept has been compared in impact to the US ARC fusion reactor tokamak concept published in 2014.[8] A smaller prototype stellarator aiming at net fusion energy is planned for 2031.[9]

In June 2025, Proxima Fusion announced that they received €130 million in funding in a Series A round.[10][11] In September 2025, they received an added €15M extension.[12]

An investment round of July 2026 included Google parent company Alphabet Inc.[13]

Technology

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Since 2015 the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics has operated the quasi-isodynamic stellarator Wendelstein 7-X. It follows in a series of Max Planck stellarators built and operated since 1960. The quasi-isodynamic feature was developed theoretically and in practical implementation in the 1980s by Allen Boozer and Jürgen Nührenberg, for which they were awarded the 2010 Hannes Alfvén Prize by the European Physical Society.[14][15]

Max Planck developed a series of reactor design studies based on Wendelstein 7-X since the 1990s. Proxima Fusion's Stellaris design is substantially similar but with a higher magnetic field provided by recent developments in high temperature superconductors, and correspondingly a somewhat smaller size. In both Wendelstein 7-X and Stellaris, toroidal plasma current is optimized to cancel to near-zero, which is believed to contribute to stability and steady state operation.[16][17]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Fleschner, Frank (30 May 2023). "Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics signs cooperation agreement with German fusion start-up Proxima Fusion". Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (Press release). Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  2. ↑ Dalton, David (11 April 2024). "Nuclear Fusion: Germany's Proxima Raises €20 Million for QI Stellarator Reactor". The Independent Global Nuclear News Agency (NucNet a.s.b.l.). Brussels, Belgium. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  3. ↑ Berninger, Markus (30 May 2023). "7 million euros for MPG spin-out Proxima Fusion". Max Planck Innovation GmbH (Press release). Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  4. ↑ Marzo, Stefano De (30 May 2023). "Munich-based Proxima Fusion raises €7 million to bring in the next generation fusion power plants". EU-Startups. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  5. ↑ Fleschner, Frank (19 June 2024). "BMBF project by Proxima Fusion and IPP starts with joint workshop". Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  6. ↑ Staff (28 June 2024). "Proxima Fusion and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) Sign Framework Agreement for the Development of High-Temperature Superconducting Magnet Technology". Proxima Fusion (Press release). Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  7. ↑ Lion, J.; Anglès, J. -C.; Bonauer, L.; Bañón Navarro, A.; Cadena Ceron, S. A.; Davies, R.; Drevlak, M.; Foppiani, N.; Geiger, J.; Goodman, A.; Guo, W.; Guiraud, E.; Hernández, F.; Henneberg, S.; Herrero, R. (26 February 2025). "Stellaris: A high-field quasi-isodynamic stellarator for a prototypical fusion power plant". Fusion Engineering and Design. 214 114868. Bibcode:2025FusED.21414868L. doi:10.1016/j.fusengdes.2025.114868. ISSN 0920-3796.
  8. ↑ Khan, Yusuf (26 February 2025). "German Startup Publishes Open-Source Plans for Nuclear-Fusion Power Plant". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  9. ↑ Emilio, Maurizio Di Paolo (26 February 2025). "Proxima Fusion Unveils Stellaris: A Breakthrough in Fusion Power". EE Times. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  10. ↑ Meredith, Sam (11 June 2025). "Europe's fastest-growing nuclear fusion company raises $148 million in record funding round". CNBC. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  11. ↑ Staff (12 June 2025). "Proxima Fusion raises €130m in record-breaking push to commercialise fusion power". Finance News Network. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  12. ↑ Nemitz, Marc (9 September 2025). "Proxima Fusion secures additional 15 million euros in Series A expansion". Startbase. Munich. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  13. ↑ https://www.proximafusion.com/press-news/proxima-fusion-raises-eu411-million-to-build-europes-commercial-fusion-champion
  14. ↑ "Europäische Auszeichnung für IPP-Plasmaphysiker". www.ipp.mpg.de (in German). Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  15. ↑ "Alfvén Prize | European Physical Society – Plasma Physics Division". Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  16. ↑ Beidler, C.D.; et al. (11 August 2021). "Demonstration of reduced neoclassical energy transport in Wendelstein 7-X". Nature. 596 (221–226). doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04023-y. PMC 8550957.
  17. ↑ Grieger, G.; Nührenberg, J.; Renner, H.; Sapper, J.; Wobig, H. (August 1994). "HELIAS stellarator reactor studies and related European technology studies". Fusion Engineering and Design. 25 (73–84). doi:10.1016/0920-3796(94)90055-8.
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