Proxima Fusion

Overview
Proxima Fusion GmbH is a German nuclear-fusion company headquartered in Munich, with additional offices in Zurich and Oxford. Founded in 2023, it is the first spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) and is developing a commercial fusion power plant based on the quasi-isodynamic, high-temperature-superconducting (QI-HTS) stellarator concept. Its work builds directly on the scientific results of the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator programme at IPP. The founding team — Francesco Sciortino (chief executive), Lucio Milanese, Jorrit Lion, Jonathan Schilling and Martin Kubie — came out of the Max Planck IPP, MIT and Google X.

Why this entity matters
Proxima Fusion is the highest-profile private fusion company in Germany and, after its July 2026 round, the best-funded fusion company in Europe. Its EUR 411 million financing was reported as the largest private fusion investment in Europe to date and lifted total funding above EUR 650 million. The company sits at the centre of two themes Startuprad.io covers closely: the rotation of European venture capital into deep tech, energy and industrial infrastructure, and the question of whether Europe can turn its public research base — here the Max Planck stellarator programme — into a commercial industry rather than ceding the field to competitors in the United States and China.

Company history and product
Proxima Fusion was founded in 2023 in Munich as the first spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics. Rather than the tokamak approach pursued by most fusion ventures, Proxima designs quasi-isodynamic stellarators combined with high-temperature-superconducting magnets. In February 2025 the company published "Stellaris", which it describes as the first peer-reviewed stellarator design integrating the physics, engineering and economic requirements of a power plant, building on the Wendelstein 7-X results; magnet and engineering research is pursued with partners including the Paul Scherrer Institute. The funding history is one of the fastest in European deep tech: a EUR 7.5 million pre-seed in 2023, a EUR 20 million seed led by redalpine in 2024, a EUR 130 million Series A in June 2025 with a EUR 15 million extension in September 2025, and a EUR 411 million (about USD 468 million) round announced on 7 July 2026 led by XTX Ventures and East X Ventures, with RWE and Google as corporate investors and participation from KfW Capital, SPRIND, Burda Principal Investments and returning backers including Plural, UVC Partners, Balderton, Cherry Ventures, DST Global, Lightspeed and the EIC Fund. Total capital raised exceeds EUR 650 million, including roughly EUR 95 million in public grants. The company reported more than 90 employees in 2025 and has grown since. Those operating figures are company-reported and not independently audited.

Role in the German and European deep-tech ecosystem
Proxima Fusion is the leading German fusion company and one of the most prominent deep-tech scale-ups in the Munich cluster alongside firms such as Quantum Systems and NEURA Robotics. In 2026 Proxima, the energy company RWE, the Free State of Bavaria and the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics signed an agreement to build the first stellarator fusion power plant in Europe on the site of the former Gundremmingen nuclear fission plant in Bavaria — a signal case for the reindustrialisation-through-deep-tech narrative Startuprad.io has tracked through 2026. The company targets an "Alpha" demonstrator in the early 2030s and a commercial "Stellaris" plant later in the decade.

Selected relationships and affiliations
Founders: Francesco Sciortino (chief executive), Lucio Milanese, Jorrit Lion, Jonathan Schilling and Martin Kubie. Origin institution: Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, of which Proxima is the first spin-out; the design builds on the Wendelstein 7-X programme. Research partners include the Paul Scherrer Institute. Named investors across rounds in company and institutional announcements: redalpine, Plural, UVC Partners, Balderton, Cherry Ventures, DST Global, Lightspeed, Leitmotif, Elaia, Bayern Kapital, CDP Venture Capital, the EIC Fund, KfW Capital, SPRIND, Burda Principal Investments, XTX Ventures and East X Ventures, with RWE and Google as corporate investors. Power-plant agreement partners: RWE, the Free State of Bavaria and the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics. Related Startuprad.io entities in the German deep-tech cluster where profiles exist include https://www.startuprad.io/entities/helsing and https://www.startuprad.io/entities/neura-robotics .

Startuprad.io relevance
Proxima Fusion is the reference German entity for the fusion and deep-tech-energy beat and one of the anchor cases for the necessity-driven rotation thesis that runs through Startuprad.io's 2026 coverage. It appears across Startuprad.io's monthly Germany, Austria and Switzerland news episodes and its deep-tech and energy analysis, most prominently in the March 2026 news episode that led with the Bavaria signal. The entity is a natural launch point for coverage of fusion economics, European reindustrialisation, and the conversion of public research into commercial industry.

Public source context
Sources used for this record include the Proxima Fusion corporate site and press releases at https://www.proximafusion.com , the Max Planck Society announcements at https://www.mpg.de , and the English-language Wikipedia entry. Funding figures are as reported by the company, its investors and the Max Planck Society; timelines for the Alpha demonstrator and the Stellaris power plant are forward-looking company targets, not delivered milestones.

Startuprad.io coverage of Proxima Fusion

Proxima Fusion appears in the following Startuprad.io news and analysis.

Startup News Germany, Austria, Switzerland, July 2026
Published: 1 September 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/startup-news-germany-austria-switzerland-july-2026

Germany's AI Bottleneck May Be Electricity: Why GreenTech Is Becoming Industrial Infrastructure
Published: 9 July 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/germany-ai-bottleneck-electricity-greentech-infrastructure

Startup News Germany, Austria, Switzerland for June 2026 (The Defence Capital Supercycle)
Published: 2 July 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/startup-news-germany-austria-switzerland-for-june-2026-the-defence-capital-supercycle

Startup News Germany, Austria, Switzerland for May 2026 (Helsing, SAP, and the Orbit Question)
Published: 29 May 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/startup-news-germany-austria-switzerland-for-may-2026-helsing-sap-and-the-orbit-question

German Startup News March 2026: Robotics, Defence and the Bavaria Signal
Published: 26 March 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/dach-german-startup-news-march-2026-robotics-defence-and-the-bavaria-signal

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Canonical record: https://www.startuprad.io/entities/proxima-fusion