Forget distant sci-fi dreams; with over $6.2 billion of private capital fueling a global race, the fusion industry is now building the hardware meant to power our future.
Key Takeaways
- As of 2023, private investment in fusion energy companies worldwide has exceeded $6.2 billion cumulatively since 1990
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) raised $1.8 billion in its Series B round in December 2021, led by investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Google
- TAE Technologies secured $250 million in Series G funding in June 2022 from Google and Chevron, valuing the company at over $5 billion
- In 2022, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) achieved ignition with 3.15 MJ yield from 2.05 MJ laser energy input
- JET tokamak set new record of 59 MJ fusion energy in 5.2 seconds in December 2021
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems' SPARC magnet achieved 20 tesla field in 2021 using REBCO tape
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) completed SPARC cryostat assembly in 2023
- TAE Technologies opened new headquarters in Foothill Ranch, CA, housing Norman reactor in 2023
- Helion Energy began construction of Polaris prototype in Everett, WA, in 2023
- ITER Organization completed 75% of project construction as of 2023
- National Ignition Facility conducted 500+ ignition-relevant experiments post-2022
- JET decommissioned after 40 years with final record experiments in 2023
- Fusion power market projected to reach $40 billion by 2030 per BloombergNEF
- Private fusion companies aim for first net electricity by 2028, with 7 targeting pilots by 2030
- Fusion could supply 10% of global energy by 2050, displacing 25 Gt CO2 annually
Significant global investment fuels rapid progress toward commercial fusion energy.
Company Milestones
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) completed SPARC cryostat assembly in 2023
- TAE Technologies opened new headquarters in Foothill Ranch, CA, housing Norman reactor in 2023
- Helion Energy began construction of Polaris prototype in Everett, WA, in 2023
- Zap Energy raised its employee count to 150 and expanded Seattle facilities in 2023
- Tokamak Energy achieved first plasma in ST40 in April 2021 ahead of schedule
- General Fusion acquired land in Vancouver for Lawson Machine 26 demo in 2022
- Type One Energy Group spun out from ORNL with Infinity stellarator design in 2022
- First Light Fusion installed Machine 4 at Oxford UK site in 2023
- HB11 Energy partnered with Boeing for laser tech integration in 2023
- Marvel Fusion established Munich lab with 10 PW laser in 2023
- EX-Fusion secured Oxford Nanopore collaboration for diagnostics in 2023
- Focused Energy announced Berlin headquarters and Series A plans in 2023
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems partnered with MIT PSFC for SPARC in 2018 founding milestone
- TAE Technologies surpassed 20,000 hours of plasma operation across devices by 2023
- Helion Energy shipped prototype 6 to PPPL for testing in 2022
- Zap Energy achieved first simultaneous Z-pinch plasmas in array in 2022
- Tokamak Energy licensed HTS magnet tech from Oxford in 2023 expansion
- General Fusion demonstrated magnetized target fusion compression in LM26 first run 2023
- Type One Energy hired ex-Google X fusion lead as CEO in 2023
- First Light Fusion published 100th peer-reviewed paper in 2023
- HB11 Energy won Australian Clean Energy Award in 2023
- Marvel Fusion joined IAEA fusion startup program in 2023
- CFS installed first SPARC support structure at Devens site in 2024
- TAE acquired majority stake in Energy Machines for ion beam tech in 2023
- Helion signed power purchase agreement target for 2028 delivery
- Zap Energy integrated with Pacific NW labs for neutron diagnostics in 2023
- Tokamak Energy plans ST80 demo by 2026 with UKAEA support
Company Milestones Interpretation
The fusion industry is a thrilling race of checkpoints, where assembling a cryostat, opening a new headquarters, and shipping a prototype are not just company updates but the collective sound of humanity hammering on the door of a star-powered future.
Investment and Funding
- As of 2023, private investment in fusion energy companies worldwide has exceeded $6.2 billion cumulatively since 1990
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) raised $1.8 billion in its Series B round in December 2021, led by investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Google
- TAE Technologies secured $250 million in Series G funding in June 2022 from Google and Chevron, valuing the company at over $5 billion
- Helion Energy raised $500 million in Series E in November 2021, led by Sam Altman of OpenAI
- Zap Energy obtained $160 million in Series C funding in October 2022 from Emerson Collective and others
- Type One Energy Group raised $82.5 million in seed funding in 2023 from Lowercarbon Capital and others
- Tokamak Energy secured £85 million ($112 million) in Series C extension in 2022
- General Fusion raised CAD 300 million ($230 million) from Temasek and others in 2023
- The U.S. Department of Energy allocated $46 million to eight fusion companies under INFUSE program in 2023
- UK government announced £400 million ($510 million) for fusion R&D including STEP program in 2023
- EU's Fusion for Energy received €5.6 billion budget for 2021-2027 under Horizon Europe
- Japan's National Fusion Research Institute budget was ¥40 billion ($290 million) in FY2023
- CFS partnered with Dominion Energy for $200 million investment in fusion plant development in 2023
- First Light Fusion raised £25 million ($32 million) in 2023 from investors including IP Group
- HB11 Energy secured AUD 10 million grant from Australian government in 2023
- Marvel Fusion raised €20 million seed in 2022 from High-Tech Gründerfonds
- EX-Fusion obtained £6.5 million from Oxford University Innovation in 2023
- Cumulative fusion venture capital deals reached 82 by end of 2023
- China invested ¥13.7 billion ($1.9 billion) in EAST tokamak upgrades by 2023
- South Korea's K-DEMO project allocated KRW 1.2 trillion ($900 million) through 2030
- Focused Energy raised $19 million seed in 2023 from 8090 Industries
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems total funding exceeds $2 billion as of 2024
- ARPA-E awarded $34 million to fusion projects in 2023 OPEN program
- Canada pledged CAD 610 million for General Fusion's demo plant in 2023
- Germany invested €200 million in Wendelstein 7-X stellarator upgrades in 2023
- Private fusion companies grew from 30 in 2019 to 43 in 2023 per FIA
- Total fusion startup funding in 2023 alone was $1.1 billion
- Breakthrough Energy Ventures invested $300 million across fusion startups by 2023
- Eni Next invested €50 million in CFS in 2020, part of €100m total fusion portfolio
- Total global public fusion R&D spending reached $3.5 billion annually by 2023
Investment and Funding Interpretation
Despite a staggering $6.2 billion in private investment since 1990 and a growing army of billionaires and governments placing their bets, we have yet to see a fusion company deliver the one statistic that actually matters: net energy gain beyond a single lab experiment.
Market and Economic Projections
- Fusion power market projected to reach $40 billion by 2030 per BloombergNEF
- Private fusion companies aim for first net electricity by 2028, with 7 targeting pilots by 2030
- Fusion could supply 10% of global energy by 2050, displacing 25 Gt CO2 annually
- Levelized cost of fusion electricity (LCOE) projected at $50/MWh by 2035 per CFS
- Global fusion R&D market valued at $25 billion in 2023, growing 15% CAGR to 2030
- U.S. fusion pilot plant to cost $1-2 billion for 400 MW output by 2030s per DOE
- ITER construction total cost estimated at €20 billion ($22B) through 2035 operations
- Fusion fuel tritium market to grow to $1.5 billion by 2040 due to demand
- 16 private fusion firms plan commercial plants before 2035 per IAEA
- Fusion energy could save $2.6 trillion in U.S. energy costs by 2050 per Fusion Industry Assoc
- China plans 10 fusion pilots by 2040 with 2 GW capacity total
- UK STEP program to deliver 200 MW demo by early 2040s at £2-3B cost
- Japan aims for DEMO reactor operation in 2040s with 2 GW output
- EU fusion roadmap targets prototype by 2050 supplying 25% EU electricity
- Fusion supply chain market to hit $40B by 2035 including magnets and lasers
- Helion projects Polaris net electricity at 50 MW for $1/MWh fuel cost
- TAE Technologies forecasts Apollo reactor commercialization by 2030 at 100 MW
- Global helium-3 mining market for fusion projected $10B by 2040 lunar economy
- Fusion insurance market emerging with $500M premiums forecasted by 2030
- 43 private fusion companies worldwide as of 2023, up 43% from 2022
- U.S. could host first commercial fusion plant by 2030 per Milken Institute
- Fusion job creation projected at 500,000 globally by 2050 per IRENA-like models
- SPARC pilot plant targets Q>10 with 140 MW fusion power output by 2026
- World fusion capacity to reach 1 GW by 2035, scaling to 100 GW by 2050 per Wood Mackenzie
- Tritium breeding blanket tech maturity at TRL 6 for ITER test blankets 2035
- Private-public fusion partnerships to invest $10B through 2030 per IAEA
- Fusion displaces $1T fossil fuel imports annually by 2040 per IEA scenarios
- General Fusion targets LM26 Q>1 by 2025, commercial by 2030s at 100 MW/module
Market and Economic Projections Interpretation
The race to harness the power of the sun on Earth has become a multibillion-dollar marathon of manic ambition, with private companies promising you cheap, clean electricity tomorrow and massive public projects paving the way for the day after.
Research Facilities and Experiments
- ITER Organization completed 75% of project construction as of 2023
- National Ignition Facility conducted 500+ ignition-relevant experiments post-2022
- JET decommissioned after 40 years with final record experiments in 2023
- Wendelstein 7-X completed Divertor Op2 campaign with 18 mini-physics campaigns
- EAST sustained high-performance H-mode for over 400s at 100M C in 2023
- KSTAR demonstrated non-inductive operation for 50s in 2023 high-beta plasmas
- DIII-D performed 20,000 plasma discharges annually for edge-localized mode studies
- WEST tokamak installed full active tungsten divertor in 2021 campaign
- JT-60SA achieved first plasma and H-mode in October 2023
- MAST-U spherical tokamak began operations with super-X divertor tests in 2023
- Alcator C-Mod legacy data repository accessed 10,000 times yearly for AI modeling
- ASDEX Upgrade tested ITER-like tungsten wall conditions in 2023
- LHD helical device achieved 17m³ plasma volume record in 2023
- HL-2M tokamak reached 1MA plasma current in first campaign 2021
- SST-1 steady-state tokamak sustained plasma for 1000s in India 2023
- RFX-mod reversed field pinch explored stellarator-like configs in 2023
- Pegasus spheromak achieved 0.4 T field with transient coils in 2023
- Levitated Dipole Experiment restarted at MIT for stability studies 2023
- Madison Symmetric Torus ran 300,000 RFP shots for dynamo physics till 2023
- ITER Toroidal Field coils #1-10 cold-tested at 5K successfully by 2023
- NIF upgraded to 2.2 MJ laser energy capability post-ignition in 2023
- SPARC site at Devens, MA, broke ground for fusion pilot plant in 2023
- TAE's Norman hall thruster tested for p-B11 propulsion integration 2023
- Zap Energy's Everett lab expanded to 20,000 sq ft for FuZE-Q in 2023
- Tokamak Energy's UK campus hosts ST40 with 2MW ECRH heating
- General Fusion's LM26 at Culham UK completed first liquid metal tests 2023
- Helion's Everett facility features 50m vacuum tubes for Polaris
- Global fusion workforce exceeds 25,000 researchers in 2023 across 50 countries
Research Facilities and Experiments Interpretation
The fusion energy landscape is no longer a speculative sketch but a sprawling, collaborative construction site, with global progress on everything from colossal magnets and record-breaking plasmas to novel wall materials and promising pilot plants demonstrating that we are not merely experimenting with stars—we are methodically building the tools to house them.
Technological Achievements
- In 2022, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) achieved ignition with 3.15 MJ yield from 2.05 MJ laser energy input
- JET tokamak set new record of 59 MJ fusion energy in 5.2 seconds in December 2021
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems' SPARC magnet achieved 20 tesla field in 2021 using REBCO tape
- TAE Technologies' Norman reactor reached 75 million degrees C plasma in 2023
- Zap Energy's FuZE-Q achieved neutron yield of 10^14 n/s without magnets in 2023
- Tokamak Energy reached 100 million degrees C in ST40 spherical tokamak in 2022
- General Fusion demonstrated 1 MJ plasma compression in LM26 machine in 2023
- Wendelstein 7-X stellarator achieved 1 billion degrees C for 28 minutes in 2023
- EAST tokamak sustained 120 million degrees C for 1056 seconds in 2022
- KSTAR achieved 100 million degrees C for 30 seconds with tungsten divertor in 2021
- Helion Energy's Polaris prototype compressed plasma to 100 keV ion temperatures in 2023
- First Light Fusion's Machine 3 achieved 1 GW peak power implosion in 2022
- HB11 Energy demonstrated laser-boron fusion with 10^8 neutrons per shot in lab tests 2023
- Type One Energy's Infinity One stellarator design targets Q>10 with 8m minor radius
- Marvel Fusion's laser-based inertial confinement uses nanocrystals for 10Hz repetition
- EX-Fusion's Avalanche boron fusion aims for 10^16 neutrons/s with petawatt lasers
- NIF repeated ignition with 3.5 MJ yield in August 2023
- WEST tokamak tested full tungsten divertor surviving 30 MW/m² heat flux in 2023
- DIII-D achieved 1.5 MA current in high-pressure plasma for 50ms in 2023
- ITER's central solenoid passed final acceptance tests at 57,000 amps in 2023
- SPARC's vacuum vessel manufacturing completed with 99.9% leak-tightness in 2024
- TAE's Copernicus reactor design reaches 75 keV with p-B11 fuel for net electricity
- Zap's sheared-flow Z-pinch stabilized plasma for over 5 microseconds in 2023
- Tokamak Energy fused hydrogen isotopes at 20 keV in ST40
- General Fusion's Ta machine reached 1M K with liquid metal liner
- JT-60SA started operations with 5.5 T toroidal field in 2023
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems demonstrated HTS magnet quench protection in 2023
- Helion's Trenta prototype ran 10,000 pulses with 50% recovery efficiency
- NIF's hohlraum achieved 1.4 MJ implosion symmetry in 2023
Technological Achievements Interpretation
While the fusion field may be scattered with diverse and competing approaches—from lasers that finally lit a spark to magnets strong enough to flatten a battleship, and from fleeting billion-degree flashes to plasmas stubbornly sustained for coffee-break lengths—the collective message is clear: the old joke about fusion being 30 years away is finally being mugged in a dark alley by actual, hard-won, and wildly different bits of progress.
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