Proxima Fusion closes $150m Series A

11 June 2025

Proxima Fusion has closed an oversubscribed $150m Series A funding round co-led by Cherry Ventures and Balderton Capital. The initial target of $100m was increased to $150m on interest from key individuals and large institutionals including $25bn global fund Lightspeed Venture Partners whose investment in Proxima complements their existing investments in Pacific Fusion and Helion. The round also included participation from Wilbe, Visionaries Club, UVC Partners, DeepTech & Climate Fonds, Plural, Leitmotif, Bayern Kapital, HTGF, Club degli Investitori, OMNES Capital, and Elaia Partners. The funding brings Proxima’s total equity investment and non-dilutive public funding to more than $200m.

Upon announcement of their investment Filip Dames, Cherry Ventures Founding Partner said “Proxima Fusion combines Europe’s scientific edge with commercial ambition, turning world-class research into one of the most promising fusion ventures globally.” Daniel Waterhouse, Partner at Balderton Capital, claimed: “Proxima has firmly secured its position as the leading European contender in the global race to commercial fusion.”

The funds will support completion of the company’s Stellarator Model Coil demonstration, as well as both the design work and site selection for Proxima’s Alpha demo stellarator. Proxima plans to both complete its Stellarator Model Coil and break ground on the site for Alpha by early-2027. The company is considering sites in several European countries including the UK. Francesco Sciortino, Proxima’s CEO and co-founder said “Germany has a clear edge but we are talking to people across the continent.”

The company expects this raise, along with anticipated non-dilutive capital, to fund activities through 2028 before when a Series B to support the construction of Alpha is anticipated. Proxima’s Alpha demo stellarator is scheduled to begin operations and achieve first plasma in 2031.

Ian Hogarth, Partner at Plural said of the company: “Since their first round of funding two years ago, Francesco and the team have hit extremely challenging milestones ahead of schedule and hired a team that spans plasma physics, advanced magnet design and simulation experts,” adding “Their peer-reviewed stellarator power plant design concept proves that fusion really can be commercially viable.”

“Fusion energy is entering a new era, moving from lab-based science to industrial-scale engineering,” said Francesco Sciortino, CEO and co-founder. “This investment validates our approach and gives us the resources to deliver hardware that will be essential to make clean fusion power a reality.”

Proxima employs more than 80 people across offices in Munich, near Zurich at the Paul Scherrer Institute, and at the Culham fusion campus near Oxford. The company unveiled its Stellaris commercial stellarator concept earlier this year, developed with the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, KIT and other partners. Proxima’s stellarator design builds on advances at the Max Planck Institute’s Wendelstein 7-X facility, which set a world record for the triple product in long plasma discharges during a 43-second run in May 2025.

Total Funding, Private Sector Stellarators