Proxima Fusion

“Stellarators have the lowest scientific risk of all fusion approaches. They are difficult to construct, but easy to operate." Proxima Co-Founders Martin Kubie and Francesco Sciortino spoke to Tages-Anzeiger about the advantages of #stellarators, the growing #fusionenergy ecosystem, and Proxima’s roadmap to commercial fusion. Together with our Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics partners Prof. Thomas Klinger and Prof. Sibylle Günter—and our lead partner at the PSI Paul Scherrer Institut, Dr. Bernhard Auchmann, also interviewed for this article—we're glad to be part of the world’s strongest R&D ecosystem to bring fusion down to Earth. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eCpUxtdg

This week, the Proxima team took a short break from our daily routines to embark on a company retreat in the green mountains of Bavaria. 🌲🏔️ We dedicated two days to productive workshops, insightful discussions, and group activities that helped us grow as a team—and strengthened our commitment to our shared mission, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on the path to building the world’s first stellarator fusion power plant.

Big things are happening for fusion in Europe! Proxima Co-Founder and COO Lucio Milanese met with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi this week. DG Grossi is a major supporter of the private fusion industry, and has praised Germany’s efforts to help startups like Proxima fast-track commercial #fusionenergy. Next up: we’re heading to Rome for the first-ever World Fusion Energy Group meeting, hosted by DG Grossi and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Proxima is proud to be part of the movement driving fusion forward in Europe and beyond, as we work together toward a future powered by limitless #cleanenergy.

We were honored to meet Minister Florian Herrmann of the Bavarian State Chancellory (Bayerische Staatskanzlei) to discuss ways to accelerate the development of #fusionenergy within the Government's "Mission Kernfusion" program. #fusion is an exciting opportunity to provide Bavaria and humanity with clean, abundant and safe energy. Close collaboration between public institutions and private industry is key, and the Bavarian Government's support in this respect inspires us to keep building Proxima in Munich! Lucio Milanese Hannes Vogel

Last week Proxima CEO Francesco Sciortino joined a #FusionXInvest panel in Tokyo on the commercialization of #fusionenergy alongside Michel Laberge of General Fusion, Kazuki Matsuo of EX-Fusion Inc., Rick Needham of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Ross Radel, PhD, PE of SHINE Technologies, and Takaya Taguchi of Helical Fusion. We at Proxima believe that stellarators offer the clearest path to commercial #fusion power plants, but it's a win for the entire industry to have companies pushing boundaries across multiple technical concepts. As Francesco emphasized, developing a resilient fusion supply chain is critical to putting fusion on the grid with the speed we need—and relationships with long-term suppliers will be key. We are glad to be working with partners like Kyoto Fusioneering and Faraday Factory Japan, already strong players within an evolving global ecosystem. Collaboration across borders and technologies will accelerate the path to delivering clean energy, for good. Photo credit: FusionX Group

“We are designing and building a demonstration magnet. The goal is to show representative magnetic field strength, stored energy, and geometry so that we’ve successfully de-risked all of the key challenges in the magnet system.” — Martin Kubie Here’s a look inside the Magnet Development Laboratory at the PSI Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland, where the Proxima magnet team, including Nicolò Riva and Sofia Viarengo, are working on our Stellarator Model Coil (SMC) at Switzerland Innovation Park Innovaare in collaboration with Bernhard Auchmann’s CHART-MagDev group:

We need new technology champions for Europe. That’s the message that our CEO Francesco Sciortino and other founders shared at Founders Forum Group this week. Francesco spoke about catalyzing Europe’s #deeptech revolution together with Seth Bannon of Fifty Years and Vaitea Cowan of Enapter. At Proxima, we’re growing rapidly alongside an evolving European ecosystem, working to accelerate progress toward commercial #fusionenergy. We believe the key ingredient needed is uncompromising ambition, and that a rising tide lifts all boats when it comes to scaling deep tech solutions across Europe. The future belongs to those who build it—and we’re building fast.

Great to speak remotely at Wired Italia's #WNF24 Next Fest in Rovereto! A healthy conversation about the promise of #fusionenergy, its opportunities for massive decarbonization and energy sovereignty, and its economic proposition for European competitiveness. Fusion won't contribute to #cleanenergy production in the 2020s, but I firmly believe that the first fusion power plants will be brought online in the 2030s—and that will be an epochal change for humanity. We have every intention of being there at the forefront with Proxima Fusion! Thanks to Simona Vecchies and the Angèlia Comunicazione team for supporting Proxima's outreach efforts in Italy! 🇮🇹 Read more: https://lnkd.in/eqDE36pd 

This year's Bits & Pretzels has brought together thousands of European founders and investors in our home city of Munich. 🥨 Proxima Co-Founder and COO Dr. Lucio Milanese made two on-stage appearances at #Bits24, speaking on the state of the #startup ecosystem alongside Dr. Sarah Theinert, Dr. Anna Hocker, and Dr. Gero Decker and chatting about new pathways to funding with Dr. Anne-Kathrin Hinze of DTCF | DeepTech & Climate Fonds. We're proud to be part of such a dynamic community, connecting and exchanging ideas with fellow innovators who are shaping the future of technology in Europe. 🇪🇺

It was wonderful to welcome Verena Pausder, Chair of the German Startup Association, to the Proxima offices in Munich, where we shared our ambitious roadmap for a more sustainable future powered by #fusionenergy. Proxima is proud to be part of Germany’s thriving #startup ecosystem as a member of Startup-Verband and a contributor to #Innovationsagenda2030. We are inspired by Verena’s belief that #deeptech startups like Proxima have a vital role to play in driving new economic opportunities and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible for European innovation. We are grateful for the support of ecosystem leaders like Verena as we work toward putting fusion on the grid—together, we can accelerate the energy transition and build on Europe’s greatest technology strengths.