This Proxima Fusion company profile covers the company's valuation, revenue, funding rounds, investors and history. Proxima Fusion works in energy, with a focus on nuclear fusion. It was founded in 2023 and is headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Its latest valuation on record is About €2.4 billion (about US$2.7 billion) (July 2026). Every figure links to a public source, and anything the company hasn't disclosed is marked as such.
Revenue
| Metric | Value | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total secured | More than €650 million in under three years, including about €95 million in public grants | July 2026 | Orrick |
Funding history
| Date | Round | Amount | Valuation | Investors | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2026 | Growth round | €411M (about US$468M) | About €2.4B (Sifted reported €2.5B) | XTX Ventures and East X Ventures (leads); Google and RWE (strategic); KfW Capital, SPRIND, Burda Principal Investments; Plural, UVC Partners, Balderton, Lightspeed | Orrick |
| Jun 2025 | Series A | €130M | Not disclosed | Cherry Ventures and Balderton (leads) | Sifted |
Proxima Fusion timeline
Key dates from the sources on this page, oldest first. Metric snapshots are listed after the funding events.
- 2023 — Proxima Fusion is founded in Munich by Francesco Sciortino (CEO) and co-founders from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics.
- Jun 2025 — Series A: €130M. Investors: Cherry Ventures and Balderton (leads).
- Jul 2026 — Growth round: €411M (about US$468M), valuing the company at About €2.4B (Sifted reported €2.5B). Investors: XTX Ventures and East X Ventures (leads); Google and RWE (strategic); KfW Capital, SPRIND, Burda Principal Investments; Plural, UVC Partners, Balderton, Lightspeed.
- July 2026 — Total secured: More than €650 million in under three years, including about €95 million in public grants.
Investors
Overview
Proxima Fusion is a German company designing fusion power plants based on the stellarator, a type of magnetic confinement device that uses carefully twisted magnetic fields to hold hot plasma in place. Fusion, the process that powers the Sun, could provide abundant, carbon-free electricity without the long-lived radioactive waste of conventional nuclear fission. Proxima plans to build a demonstration stellarator called Alpha near Munich in the early 2030s, followed by Stellaris, which it describes as the world's first commercial stellarator power plant, later that decade. In July 2026 it raised €411 million at a valuation of about €2.4 billion, one of the largest private fusion financings in Europe, with Google and German utility RWE among strategic investors.
Proxima Fusion was founded in 2023 as a spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, which operates Wendelstein 7-X, the world's most advanced stellarator experiment. Francesco Sciortino, a physicist who previously worked at the institute and at MIT, is CEO. The founding team combined experience from Wendelstein 7-X with backgrounds from technology companies, aiming to turn decades of publicly funded research into a commercial power plant design.
Technology
- Stellarator design: devices whose magnetic coils are shaped in three dimensions to confine plasma without needing a large current in the plasma itself, which can make operation more stable than tokamaks.
- Stellaris: Proxima's published concept for a commercial power plant, developed with computational optimisation tools.
- High-temperature superconducting magnets: stronger magnets that allow more compact and powerful devices.
- Alpha demonstrator: a planned device near Munich to demonstrate net energy gain from a stellarator, with a cost Sifted put at about €2 billion.
Funding
Proxima raised a seed round in 2023 and a €130 million Series A in 2025. In July 2026 it announced a €411 million round, about US$468 million, led by XTX Ventures and East X Ventures, with Google and RWE as strategic investors, KfW Capital, SPRIND (Germany's Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation) and Burda Principal Investments joining, and returning investors including Plural, UVC Partners, Balderton and Lightspeed. Most reports put the valuation at about €2.4 billion, while Sifted reported €2.5 billion. Including about €95 million in public grants, Proxima said it had secured more than €650 million in under three years.
Business model
Proxima doesn't have revenue yet. Its long-term plan is to design and build fusion power plants, either operating them or selling plants and technology to utilities and industrial customers. RWE's involvement is linked to a plan to build the first stellarator power plant at the former nuclear site in Gundremmingen, Bavaria. Before commercial plants, government programmes and partnerships with research institutions provide funding for development.
Competition
Proxima competes with fusion companies pursuing other designs, including tokamak developers such as Commonwealth Fusion Systems and Tokamak Energy, alternative approaches such as Helion, Pacific Fusion and TAE Technologies, and other stellarator startups such as Type One Energy and Thea Energy in the US. Public programmes, including ITER, also advance fusion science. Proxima is Europe's most prominent private stellarator company.
Proxima Fusion at a glance
Proxima Fusion is a Munich fusion energy company founded in 2023 as a spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, led by CEO Francesco Sciortino. It is designing stellarator power plants, with a demonstrator planned for the early 2030s. It raised €411 million in July 2026 at about €2.4 billion, led by XTX Ventures and East X Ventures, with Google and RWE as strategic investors.
Timeline
- 2023: founded as a spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics.
- 2025: publishes its Stellaris power plant concept and raises a €130 million Series A.
- July 2026: raises €411 million at about €2.4 billion.
- Early 2030s: Alpha demonstrator targeted.
- Later 2030s: first commercial plant targeted.
Tokamaks versus stellarators
Most fusion research has focused on tokamaks, doughnut-shaped devices that use a strong current flowing through the plasma to help confine it. Tokamaks have achieved impressive results, but the plasma current can lead to sudden disruptions that damage the machine. Stellarators avoid that current by shaping the magnetic field entirely with external coils, which makes them inherently more stable but much harder to design and build, because the coils have complex three-dimensional shapes. Advances in computing and optimisation, demonstrated by Wendelstein 7-X, have made stellarators more practical. Proxima argues that their stability makes them better suited to running continuously as power plants.
Europe's fusion ambitions
Germany has made fusion a strategic priority, with government programmes funding research and public agencies such as SPRIND and KfW investing in startups. European energy companies, facing the need for firm, low-carbon power, are paying attention. RWE's participation and the plan to use a former nuclear site show how fusion could fit into Germany's energy system after it phased out fission power. Big technology companies, including Google, are also investing in fusion, partly to secure future clean power for data centres.
Who backs Proxima Fusion
Proxima's investors include technology-focused venture firms, a quantitative trading firm's venture arm (XTX Ventures), a major utility, Google and German public funding agencies, reflecting both commercial and strategic interest.
Valuation context
A valuation of about €2.4 billion for a company without revenue reflects the long-term potential investors see in fusion and the strength of Proxima's team and design. Fusion valuations are driven by milestones rather than financial results. Our guide to fusion energy companies compares Proxima with peers.
Risks
- Scientific and engineering risk: no fusion device has yet produced commercial power.
- Cost: demonstrators and plants require billions in investment.
- Timelines: fusion milestones have historically slipped.
- Regulation: licensing frameworks for fusion plants are still developing.
Questions for observers
- How will Alpha be financed beyond the current round?
- What magnet and component milestones come before Alpha?
- How will fusion plants be regulated in Germany and the EU?
Latest developments (October 2026)
Proxima Fusion raised €411 million in July 2026 at a €2.4 billion valuation, led by XTX Ventures and East X Ventures with RWE and Google as strategic investors, according to the company. German reporting said the round unlocks a further €400 million of support from the state of Bavaria. Proxima plans its Alpha demonstrator for the early 2030s and its first commercial stellarator, Stellaris, at Gundremmingen in Bavaria. See our nuclear and fusion guide.
What to watch
Watch magnet tests, Alpha construction, German and EU fusion policy, and new partnerships with utilities and technology companies.
Takeaways
Utilities and industry are watching fusion as a future source of firm clean power. Founders can see how public research can become a venture-backed company. Investors should recognise the long timelines and technical risk involved.
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from the public sources below. Where sources disagreed, we used the company's own announcement or a primary news report. Private-company data changes; check the date beside each figure.
Frequently asked questions
What does Proxima Fusion do?
Proxima Fusion is a energy / nuclear fusion company headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It was founded in 2023.
What is Proxima Fusion's valuation?
Proxima Fusion was valued at About €2.4 billion (about US$2.7 billion) as of July 2026, according to Pulse 2.0. Private company valuations are set at funding rounds or share sales and can change significantly between them.
How much revenue does Proxima Fusion make?
Proxima Fusion is a private company and has not publicly disclosed its revenue. Figures on third-party sites are usually modelled estimates rather than numbers reported by the company.
What was Proxima Fusion's latest funding round?
The most recent financing we have verified is a growth round in Jul 2026: €411M (about US$468M), at a valuation of About €2.4B (Sifted reported €2.5B). Source: Orrick.
Who are Proxima Fusion's investors?
Investors named in public announcements include XTX Ventures, East X Ventures, Google, RWE, KfW Capital, SPRIND, Plural, UVC Partners, Balderton Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Cherry Ventures.
Who founded Proxima Fusion?
Proxima Fusion was founded in 2023 by Francesco Sciortino (CEO) and co-founders from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics.
Is Proxima Fusion a public company?
No. Proxima Fusion is a private company (private, venture backed), so its shares are not traded on a stock exchange and it isn't required to publish its financial results.
Where is Proxima Fusion headquartered?
Proxima Fusion is headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.