Proxima Fusion is developing a stellarator. The aim is for its plasma to produce more energy from fusion than the heating power supplied to it. The device would use a twisting, complex arrangement of external magnetic coils to trap superheated plasma. Imagine it like a tightly woven, twisted racetrack.
Proxima’s roadmap first calls for Alpha, a demonstrator targeted for operation in the early 2030s. Demonstrating net energy gain in its plasma is a step toward a power plant, rather than a demonstration of net electricity supplied to the grid.
Described as the critical bridge between decades of fusion research and commercial deployment, the Alpha project brings together four partners. Proxima leads it with the state of Bavaria, the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics and RWE.
The project is intended to validate key technologies and support Proxima’s ambition for a commercial stellarator power plant later that decade.
To achieve all of this, the company just secured a €411 million ($468 million) financing round, bringing its valuation to €2.4 billion ($2.7 billion) and establishing itself as the best-funded fusion company in Europe.
Who is backing Proxima Fusion?
XTX Ventures and East X Ventures led the round, with RWE and Google as strategic investors.
KfW Capital, SPRIND and Burda Principal Investments joined the round alongside returning investors including Plural, UVC Partners, Balderton, Cherry Ventures, DST Global Partners, Brevan Howard Macro Venture, Lightspeed, DTCF, redalpine, Leitmotif, Elaia, CDP Venture Capital, Bayern Kapital, and the EIC Fund.
German energy company RWE became an investor just months after signing an agreement with Proxima. The partners plan to build the first stellarator fusion power plant on a former nuclear fission site in Gundremmingen, Bavaria.
“Europe is racing with the United States and China to get to the first fusion power plant. Proxima’s financing demonstrates that Europe can not only invent breakthrough technologies, but also build globally competitive companies around them. Investors recognise both the urgency and the opportunity of what we’re doing and are backing us to develop a generational energy technology company,” said Dr. Francesco Sciortino, Co-Founder and CEO of Proxima Fusion.
Public funding and private capital
In less than three years, Proxima has secured more than €650 million ($740 million), including €95 million in public grants. Just three months after signing its Memorandum of Understanding with the Free State of Bavaria, RWE and the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Proxima completed this €411 million financing round. The round exceeded its target of matching Bavaria’s commitment for €400 million public funding contribution to the company’s roadmap, illustrating how targeted public investment can catalyse private capital at scale, a press release reads.
What is confirmed about additive manufacturing?
Editorial clarification: the primary sources checked do not establish that Proxima is 3D printing its stellarator coils and supports, or that StarFinder directly turns simulations into printed parts. The complexity of stellarator geometry alone does not support those specific claims.
A separate announcement by Freemelt on July 15, 2026, two days after this article’s original publication, provides a documented additive manufacturing link. Freemelt announced a cooperation framework with Proxima for the Alpha Alliance, focusing initially on tungsten components exposed to plasma, including the divertor and first wall. It plans to contribute electron beam powder bed fusion expertise through design, prototyping and validation. The agreement sets a framework for future projects; it does not establish completed deliveries or the printing of stellarator coils.
Watch Proxima Fusion’s financing announcement
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