European record: €130 million for nuclear fusion startup
German startup raises record amount for nuclear fusion reactor.
Published on June 17, 2025
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Proxima Fusion, Europe's fastest-growing nuclear fusion company, has raised €130 million. This is the largest private investment round in fusion energy in Europe.
The round was co-led by Cherry Ventures and Balderton Capital. This brings Proxima Fusion's total funding to over €185 million, accelerating its mission to build the world's first commercial fusion power plant based on a stellarator design.
How it works
A stellarator is a device designed to enable nuclear fusion – replicating the energy of the sun, but on Earth. It holds super-hot plasma in place using complex magnetic fields.
The Stellarator Model Coil (SMC) is due to be completed in 2027. This is a kind of test version that will demonstrate that their systems work properly. Proxima is also working on “Alpha,” a first working version of such a stellarator. Together with European governments, they are now looking for a place to build Alpha. Alpha should be ready in 2031 and demonstrate that nuclear fusion produces more energy than it consumes (Q>1). This is an important step toward real fusion power plants.
A real, strategic opportunity
Francesco Sciortino, CEO and co-founder of Proxima Fusion: "Fusion has become a real, strategic opportunity to shift global energy dependence on natural resources to technological leadership. Proxima is perfectly positioned to capitalize on this momentum by bringing together a spectacular team of engineers and manufacturing specialists with leading research institutions, accelerating the path to the first European fusion power plant in the coming decade."
