German Fusion Startup Proxima Fusion Raises Additional €15 Million Funding

The new investment comes from CDP Venture Capital (via Large Ventures and Corporate Partners I Energy Tech funds), the European Innovation Council Fund (EICF), and Brevan Howard.

“Proxima is bringing together public and private partners, developing as a truly European company, uniting expertise, talent, and capital from across the continent,” said Proxima Co-founder and CEO Francesco Sciortino. “While our roots are in Germany, building on the record-breaking Wendelstein 7-X stellarator experiment at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, we are building a pan-European team and investor base. This collaborative ambition, combined with the Max Planck Institute’s incredible legacy, is giving us a powerful European foundation to lead the global race to fusion.”

Proxima Fusion, spun out of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in 2023, is developing the first generation of fusion power plants using QI-HTS stellarators.

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The company has brought together a team of scientists and engineers from top institutions and companies, including IPP, MIT, Harvard, SpaceX, Tesla, and McLaren. Using a simulation-driven approach and high-temperature superconductors, Proxima builds on the success of IPP’s W7-X experiment.

The European Innovation Council Fund (EICF) equity investment is the latest public funding for Proxima, following support from DeepTech & Climate Fonds (DTCF), High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Bayern Kapital, and the Max Planck Foundation. This investment comes after a previous €2.5 million grant from the EICF.

“CDP Venture Capital believes firmly that Europe’s DeepTech ecosystem has a key role to play in developing future energy solutions,” said Alessandro Scortecci, Chief Investment Officer, Direct Investments at CDP Venture Capital. “Fusion can contribute to technological independence, drive industrial competitiveness, and accelerate carbon-neutral economic growth. We are confident that Proxima will deliver and transform the global energy landscape.”

This new funding will speed up Proxima Fusion’s engineering work on the SMC, helping to reduce risks in key HTS magnet technologies for stellarators. The company aims to complete the SMC by 2027. At the same time, the team is finalizing the design of its net energy gain demo stellarator, Alpha, and exploring potential sites across Europe.

About Proxima Fusion

Founded in 2023, Proxima Fusion is Europe’s fastest-growing fusion company, developing the first generation of stellarator-based fusion power plants. The company focuses on cutting-edge technologies to create safe, efficient and scalable fusion energy aiming to transform the continent’s energy landscape and drive the future of clean, limitless power.