Wedoany.com Report-Jun 16, Proxima Fusion, a European fusion energy company, has secured €130 million ($150 million) in a Series A financing round, bringing its total funding to over €185 million in combined private and public capital. This round marks the largest private fusion investment in Europe to date.

The Series A financing was co-led by Cherry Ventures and Balderton Capital.

The Series A round was co-led by Cherry Ventures and Balderton Capital, with participation from UVC Partners, DeepTech & Climate Fonds, Elaia Partners, Visionaries Tomorrow, and redalpine. Notably, redalpine also led the company’s seed round in 2024.

Proxima Fusion was established in April 2023 as a spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP). The company maintains a strong partnership with IPP and bases its engineering approach on simulations, advanced computing, and high-temperature superconducting (HTS) technologies. These efforts build on IPP’s Wendelstein 7-X stellarator experiment.

CEO and co-founder Francesco Sciortino stated: “Fusion has become a real, strategic opportunity to shift global energy dependence from natural resources to technological leadership. Proxima is perfectly positioned to harness that momentum by uniting a spectacular engineering and manufacturing team with world-leading research institutions, accelerating the path toward bringing the first European fusion power plant online in the next decade.”

The company, in collaboration with IPP, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), and other partners, unveiled Stellaris in early 2025. Stellaris is a stellarator concept that integrates physics, engineering, and maintainability to advance fusion development.

The newly acquired funding will be used to complete the Stellarator Model Coil (SMC) by 2027. This milestone is critical for validating HTS technology in stellarator systems and aims to enhance European capabilities in HTS innovation.

Proxima is currently in discussions with several European governments regarding the site selection for Alpha, its demonstration stellarator. Alpha is scheduled to begin operations in 2031 and is expected to achieve net energy gain (Q > 1), a key goal for advancing toward commercial fusion energy.

Cherry Ventures founding partner Filip Dames commented: “We back founders solving humanity’s hardest problems — and few are bigger than clean, limitless energy. Proxima Fusion combines Europe’s scientific edge with commercial ambition, turning world-class research into one of the most promising fusion ventures globally. This is deep tech at its best, and a bold signal that Europe can lead on the world stage.”

Proxima Fusion currently operates across three locations: its headquarters in Munich, the Paul Scherrer Institute near Zurich, and the Culham fusion campus near Oxford. The team has grown to over 80 members, and further expansion is underway to support its development goals.