Munich-based Proxima Fusion has raised €130 million in Europe's largest-ever private investment round for nuclear fusion, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing the company. The round was led by Cherry Ventures and Balderton Capital. The startup, spun out of Germany's Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, aims to build a commercial fusion power plant based on a stellarator design—a less common alternative to the tokamak that promises more stable plasma confinement. CEO Francesco Sciortino said the funds will be used to construct a first-of-its-kind Stellarator Model Coil by 2027 and a €1 billion demonstration plant by 2031, with the ultimate goal of deploying the first commercial fusion power station in the following years. Sciortino urged European governments to provide support or risk losing leadership in fusion to global rivals, warning that "science alone won't deliver energy without investment." The company joins a growing field of fusion startups competing with better-funded US peers like Commonwealth Fusion Systems and Helion, though no project has yet produced net energy. Attribution: The Financial Times Subediting: Nada Ali
