What Helion Energy does

Helion Energy is a privately held fusion energy company founded in 2013 and headquartered in Everett, Washington, developing pulsed Field Reversed Configuration (FRC) fusion technology to deliver zero-carbon baseload electricity to enterprise customers via long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). The company's core technology differs fundamentally from mainstream tokamak approaches: Helion operates plasmas in sub-millisecond pulses using deuterium-helium-3 fuel, with the plasma itself acting as the secondary coil in a large RLC circuit. When fusion occurs and the plasma expands, it pushes back on the magnetic field, driving current back into the capacitor bank and recovering electricity directly via electromagnetic induction — bypassing steam turbines and targeting circuit efficiencies above 90% versus the ~40% thermodynamic ceiling of thermal conversion.

Helion has built seven generations of prototypes, with the most recent two being Trenta (retired 6th-gen, which achieved 100M°C plasma and 16 months continuous operation) and Polaris (7th-gen, which in February 2026 became the first privately developed fusion machine to demonstrate measurable deuterium-tritium fusion at 150 million degrees Celsius). The company is currently constructing Orion in Malaga, Washington — the world's first commercial fusion power plant — targeting 50 MW of electricity delivery to Microsoft by 2028. A second 500 MW plant is planned at a Nucor steelmaking facility in the United States for the 2030s. The company's commercial model is enterprise field sales anchored by multi-decade offtake contracts with hyperscale data center operators (Microsoft, OpenAI) and energy-intensive industrial manufacturers (Nucor), with Constellation Energy serving as power marketer for grid delivery.

Helion's go-to-market is structurally distinct from productized software businesses: it is a capital-intensive infrastructure developer that monetizes only after first-of-a-kind plants come online, relying on anchor customers to validate technology readiness and underwrite project finance for follow-on facilities. The company has raised approximately $1.5 billion across multiple funding rounds led by Sam Altman (largest individual investor at ~$375M), Thrive Capital (Series G, 2026), Lightspeed Venture Partners, and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, reaching a $15.5 billion post-money valuation in June 2026. It maintains an extensive external research network (HERCULES program, 20+ institutions, $17M+ committed through 2028) and became the first fusion company globally to receive all required regulatory licenses for a commercial fusion power plant.

Name

Helion Energy

Legal name

Helion Energy, Inc.

Website

http://www.helionenergy.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Helion Energy is a private fusion energy company developing pulsed Field Reversed Configuration (FRC) fusion technology to deliver zero-carbon baseload electricity via long-term Power Purchase Agreements to hyperscale data center operators (Microsoft, OpenAI) and energy-intensive industrial manufacturers (Nucor).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Everett

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Fusion-Generated Electricity (PPA): Helion generates revenue by selling electricity directly from fusion power plants under long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Customers (Microsoft, Nucor, potentially OpenAI) commit to purchasing specified megawatt quantities at agreed prices over multi-decade terms. Revenue is not yet material as commercial plants are under construction. The company targets delivering electricity at 1 cent per kilowatt-hour at scale.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Helion Energy is a fusion energy company that designs, builds, and operates fusion power plants to generate electricity sold under long-term Power Purchase Agreements. Its primary commercial product is the Orion fusion power plant; earlier prototype machines (Trenta, Polaris) are used to derisk the technology. The company also sells fusion-generated electricity as a service to enterprise customers such as Microsoft and Nucor.

Product overview

Helion Energy is a fusion energy company building the world's first fusion power plant. The company's product portfolio centers on its proprietary field-reversed configuration (FRC) pulsed plasma technology, which generates electricity directly from fusion without steam cycles. The core offerings include Polaris (7th-generation prototype targeting net electricity demonstration), Orion (first commercial fusion power plant under construction for Microsoft by 2028), and Trenta (retired 6th-generation prototype that validated commercial viability at 100M degrees). Supporting these is the HERCULES research collaboration program funding university and lab research, plus proprietary D-He-3 fuel cycle and direct electricity recovery systems that form the technical foundation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Polaris: Helion's seventh-generation fusion prototype expected to demonstrate the first electricity produced from fusion. Achieved 150 million degree plasma temperatures in February 2026.
• Orion
• Trenta
• HERCULES

Products and services

• Polaris Polaris is Helion's seventh-generation fusion prototype machine used to validate the company's pulsed FRC plasma confinement, direct electricity recovery, and D-He-3 fuel cycle approach on the path to the Orion commercial plant.
• Orion Orion is Helion's first commercial fusion power plant and the company's flagship revenue-generating asset, designed to deliver baseload fusion electricity to enterprise and industrial offtakers under long-term Power Purchase Agreements.
• Trenta Trenta was Helion's sixth-generation fusion prototype used to validate plasma formation, compression, and direct electricity recovery techniques ahead of Polaris and Orion.
• Fusion-Generated Electricity (PPA Service) Long-term, fixed-price clean electricity supplied to hyperscale technology and heavy-industrial customers under Power Purchase Agreements, sourced from Helion's fusion power plants and delivered via the U.S. grid.

Quantifiable outcome

• First privately developed fusion machine to achieve deuterium-tritium fusion and plasma temperatures of 150 million degrees Celsius — 1.5x the previous commercial fusion record (Feb 2026)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• HERCULES Research Consortium (20+ institutions)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 April 2026Helion's HERCULES program (Helion External Research Collaboration for Universities, Labs, and Enterprise Scientists) awarded $4 million to 25 proposals across 20 institutions in the US and UK in April 2026, with $17M+ committed through 2028. Awardees include MIT, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, University of Michigan, University of Washington, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, Florida State University, and others — advancing enabling technologies for commercial fusion including SiC plasma-facing materials, diamond neutron sensors, radiation-hardened electronics, and high-temperature superconducting magnets.
• OpenAIcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 March 2026OpenAI and Helion are in advanced talks (as of March 2026) for a potential power purchase framework: OpenAI would purchase 12.5% of Helion's production, scaling to 5 GW by 2030 and 50 GW by 2035. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stepped down from Helion's board on March 23, 2026, to address conflict-of-interest concerns and enable the potential partnership. A signed agreement had not yet been finalized as of the available data.
• U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 February 2026The DOE's Office of Science (via Fusion Energy Sciences program) has partnered with Helion through diagnostic calibration, regulatory engagement, and public endorsement of Polaris milestones. Associate Director Jean Paul Allain praised Helion's progress. DOE also runs the Milestone-Based Fusion Program and ARPA-E fusion funding initiatives that benefit Helion's ecosystem.
• Los Alamos National Laboratory; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Sandia National LaboratoriescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 February 2026Helion's Polaris diagnostic suite was tested and calibrated with the Department of Energy and three national laboratories (Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, Sandia). These partnerships provide access to specialized neutron sources, fusion test facilities, and expert validation of Helion's plasma and neutron diagnostic data.
• Constellation EnergycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 January 2025Constellation Energy serves as the power marketer for Helion's Microsoft PPA, managing the transmission and sale of fusion-generated electricity from Orion into the grid. Constellation is also the operator of the Crane Clean Energy Center (formerly Three Mile Island Unit 1), which Microsoft separately contracted for nuclear power.
• Nucor CorporationflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 September 2023Helion and Nucor announced a collaboration in September 2023 to develop a 500 MW fusion power plant at a Nucor steelmaking facility in the United States (targeted for the 2030s). This is the first fusion energy agreement of this scale worldwide. Nucor invested $35 million in Helion as part of the agreement, accelerating fusion deployment for industrial decarbonization.
• MicrosoftflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 May 2023Helion signed the world's first fusion energy Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Microsoft in May 2023. Microsoft will purchase at least 50 MW of fusion-generated electricity from Helion's first commercial plant (Orion, Malaga, WA) starting 2028. Constellation Energy serves as the power marketer managing transmission. The agreement is the first commercial fusion PPA globally and supports Microsoft's carbon negative by 2030 goal.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Commonwealth Fusion Systems: MIT spinout developing commercial tokamak-based fusion. Most direct competitor to Helion, having raised ~$3B (largest in private fusion) and targeting first commercial fusion power in the early 2030s with its SPARC/ARC machines.
• TAE Technologies: California-based fusion company using Field-Reversed Configuration (same plasma topology as Helion) but with a steady-state, neutral-beam-heated approach. Raised ~$1B and pursuing commercial fusion power generation.
• General Fusion: Canadian magnetized target fusion company using pistons to compress a plasma-filled liquid-metal liner. Direct fusion energy peer with overlapping offtake ambitions and a comparable capital-intensive path to commercial power.
• Tokamak Energy: UK-based spherical tokamak developer pursuing commercial fusion. Direct competitor in fusion power generation, with overlapping target customers and a comparable funding profile.
• Zap Energy: Seattle-based fusion company using sheared-flow Z-pinch technology. Geographic neighbor with overlapping talent pool; pursues compact, lower-capex commercial fusion pathways complementary to Helion's pulsed FRC approach.

Emerging players

• Type One Energy: Stellarator-based fusion company focused on quasi-symmetric steady-state designs. Earlier-stage emerging competitor in the same commercial fusion power market, with narrower deployment ambitions than Helion's hyperscaler focus.
• Avalanche Energy: Seattle-based modular fusion company developing small, repetitive fusion devices for distributed power. Emerging competitor in the same Pacific Northwest fusion cluster, with a complementary small-footprint approach.
• Xcimer Energy: Inertial fusion startup pursuing laser-driven inertial confinement energy. Earlier-stage player in commercial fusion, with technology overlap but materially different technical architecture and commercialization timeline.

Regional players

• First Light Fusion: UK-based inertial confinement fusion company pursuing projectile-driven fusion. Comparable commercial fusion aspiration but operating primarily in a different geography, with limited overlap in target customers or regulatory pathway.

Broad incumbents

• Westinghouse Electric Company: Established nuclear power generation equipment and services company. Larger incumbent in the broader nuclear/advanced nuclear power generation space; overlaps with Helion in regulated power generation but operates in fission rather than fusion and serves a different customer set.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/helion_energy
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/helionenergy
• Facebookfacebook.com/helionenergy
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/helion-energy
• Instagraminstagram.com/helionenergy

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds10 records

Investors14 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Helion Energy