Proxima Fusion, the fastest-growing European scale-up in the fusion sector, announces that it has extended its latest Series A funding round announced last June. In addition to adding value in terms of fundraising, the operation also has significance for the European system, with new funds coming from CDP Venture Capital, the European Innovation Council Fund (EICF) and the Brevan Howard Macro Venture fund, part of one of the leading global macro asset managers.
The €15 million extension of the Series A round brings the total amount raised to €200 million and strengthens Proxima’s position as a European pioneer in the field of fusion, supporting investors’ belief that Europe should build its own sovereign company in the fusion sector.
CDP Venture Capital has invested both through its Large Ventures fund and through the Energy Tech segment of the Corporate Partners I fund, an investment vehicle dedicated to supporting innovative start-ups and scale-ups that develop technologies for the energy transition, including sustainable mobility, smart grids, storage and renewable energy. CDP Venture Capital’s entry into Proxima Fusion’s capital reflects Italy’s growing interest in fusion energy as a strategic technology for energy independence and European industrial leadership.
The EICF investment adds another European public fund to support Proxima, following previous investments by DeepTech & Climate Fonds (DTCF) and High–Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), both supported by the German Ministry of Economy and Energy, as well as Bayern Kapital, controlled by LfA Förderbank Bayern, and the non-profit Max Planck Foundation, which supports research exclusively through the institutes of the Max Planck Society. The new EICF investment follows a previous grant to Proxima amounting to €2.5 million.
The presence of so many system entities from different countries represents a significant step forward in uniting the main European economies in support of Proxima’s mission.
“CDP Venture Capital firmly believes that the European deep tech ecosystem has a key role to play in developing the energy solutions of the future,” said Alessandro Scortecci, chief investment officer – direct investments at CDP Venture Capital, in a statement. “The merger can contribute to technological independence, support industrial competitiveness and accelerate zero-emission economic growth. We are confident that Proxima will deliver on its promises and transform the global energy landscape.”
“Proxima is bringing together public and private partners, developing in all respects as a European company, combining skills, talent and capital from across the continent,” says Francesco Sciortino, co-founder and CEO of Proxima (pictured with the other founders). “Although our roots are in Germany, based on the record-breaking Wendelstein 7-X stellarator experiment conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, we are creating a pan-European team and investor base. This collaborative ambition, combined with the incredible legacy of the Max Planck Institute, is providing us with a solid European foundation to lead the global race for fusion, and clearly, I can only be extremely happy to see an Italian institution such as CDP join our capital.
Just three months after the announcement of the most With the largest round of private investment in fusion ever realised in Europe, Proxima has already grown by a further 20% to 100 employees and is rapidly converting the new capital into industrial shares to consolidate its long-term roadmap. With the new capital available, Proxima has placed large-scale purchase orders to produce: high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tape to ensure long-term supply for the HTS magnet programme, key elements for the project; the production of structural support plates for its first non-planar HTS magnet, the Stellarator Model Coil (SMC); its own in-house cable production line to accelerate research and development capabilities and produce its first long-distance SMC cables; full-scale, full-weight dummy coils and prototype sections of vacuum chambers to demonstrate hardware design, manufacturing capability and assembly process development for stellarators.
This latest funding will accelerate the company’s engineering progress towards the SMC, which will reduce the risks associated with HTS magnets, key elements of stellarator technology. Proxima’s ambitious goal is to build the Stellarator Model Coil (SMC) in 2027. In addition, the team is simultaneously finalising the design of Alpha, its net energy gain demonstration stellarator, while evaluating potential construction sites across Europe.
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