German Fusion Start-Up Becomes Unicorn

Proxima cracked the unicorn threshold after a new financing round of EUR 411 million. In future the start-up will be valued at around EUR 2.5 billion.

The round was led by London’s XTX Ventures together with Germany’s Skion, KfW Capital from the state German economic development bank, and the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation SPRIND.

“This shows that capital for large-scale, future-oriented projects no longer can only be raised in the US – Europe can do that, too,” Proxima founder and head Francesco Sciortino told business newspaper Handelsblatt.

Proxima describes itself as “Europe's fastest-growing fusion company.” It specializes in magnet- or stellarator-based fusion. Other companies in Germany are exploring laser-based fusion. It is expected that the sector will attract billions in private and public investment in the years to come.

Sources: Handelsblatt, Proxima