Proxima Fusion
Proxima Fusion is a Munich-based fusion energy company spun out of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in 2023, developing quasi-isodynamic stellarator fusion power plants using HTS magnets and AI-driven simulation, targeting commercial grid electricity in the late 2030s.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2023
- HeadquartersMunich, Germany
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Proxima Fusion does
Proxima Fusion GmbH is a Munich-based fusion energy company founded in 2023 as the first spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP), headquartered at Flößergasse 2, 81369 München and registered at the District Court of Munich under HRB 283423. The company is engineering quasi-isodynamic (QI) stellarator fusion power plants using high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets, building directly on the record-breaking Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) experimental program. Its team of approximately 100 scientists, engineers, and operators is drawn from IPP, MIT, SpaceX, Tesla, McLaren, Google X, KIT, Harvard, Cambridge, and other frontier institutions, and it operates engineering offices at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Zurich and on the UK's Culham Campus in addition to its Munich headquarters.
Proxima Fusion firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Proxima Fusion
- Legal name
- Proxima Fusion GmbH
- Website
- https://proximafusion.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2023
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Proxima Fusion is a Munich-based fusion energy company spun out of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in 2023, developing quasi-isodynamic stellarator fusion power plants using HTS magnets and AI-driven simulation, targeting commercial grid electricity in the late 2030s.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Proxima Fusion is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Munich
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Proxima Fusion business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Operations
Revenue model
- Pre-revenue / Future electricity sales: Proxima Fusion is pre-revenue. Long-term plan targets commercial sale of fusion electricity from Stellaris (late 2030s) following demonstration of net energy gain in the Alpha stellarator (early 2030s). Current activity consists of R&D funded by venture capital and public grants rather than commercial product revenue.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels8 records
Proxima Fusion product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Proxima Fusion designs and develops quasi-isodynamic (QI) stellarator-based fusion power plants, using high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets and a proprietary cloud-based simulation framework (StarFinder) for rapid design optimization. Its product roadmap runs from the Stellarator Model Coil (SMC) demonstration magnet in 2027, to the Alpha demonstration stellarator targeting net energy gain in the early 2030s, to Stellaris — the first peer-reviewed integrated concept for a commercial QI-HTS stellarator fusion power plant, targeted for grid deployment in the late 2030s.
Product overview
Proxima Fusion offers a single integrated product platform centered on designing and building quasi-isodynamic high-temperature superconducting (QI-HTS) stellarator fusion power plants. The portfolio comprises the StarFinder cloud-based stellarator optimization and design framework (the simulation/software backbone), the Stellarator Model Coil (SMC) demonstration magnet (the first HTS hardware milestone in 2027), the Alpha demonstration stellarator (a net-energy-gain demonstration device targeted for the early 2030s in Garching), and Stellaris (the commercial fusion power plant concept, peer-reviewed and targeted for grid deployment in the late 2030s). Specialized component technologies, such as the 240 GHz gyrotron microwave heating systems being co-developed with Thales, KIT, and Diamond Materials, support each of these devices. Together these named products form a staged roadmap from cloud-based stellarator design to hardware execution to grid-scale commercial fusion.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Stellaris: Proxima's peer-reviewed fusion power plant concept published in Fusion Engineering and Design; the first integrated concept for a commercial quasi-isodynamic stellarator fusion power plant.
- Alpha
- StarFinder
Products and services
- Stellaris Stellaris is Proxima Fusion's peer-reviewed, first-of-a-kind commercial QI-HTS stellarator fusion power plant concept, designed to put fusion electricity on the grid in the late 2030s. It is the first stellarator concept to integrate electromagnetic, structural, thermal, and neutronics simulations into a fully coherent design, producing more power per unit volume than any previously designed stellarator power plant.
- Alpha Alpha is Proxima's demonstration stellarator, planned for construction in Garching, Germany (near Max Planck IPP), targeting net fusion energy gain in steady-state for the first time in the early 2030s. It is the bridge device between the Stellarator Model Coil and the commercial Stellaris power plant.
- Stellarator Model Coil (SMC) The SMC is Proxima's first HTS non-planar magnet, a demonstration magnet targeted for completion in 2027. It will de-risk high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet technology for stellarators and validate the manufacturing and assembly processes required for Alpha and Stellaris.
- StarFinder StarFinder is Proxima's proprietary cloud-based stellarator optimization and design framework that leverages supercomputing to rapidly iterate on quasi-isodynamic (QI) stellarator designs at lower cost and higher speed than ever before, enabling rapid prototyping and ML-driven design. It is used internally to design the SMC, Alpha, and Stellaris.
- Microwave Heating Systems (Gyrotrons) Next-generation 240 GHz, 1+ MW gyrotron microwave heating systems being co-developed with Thales, KIT, and Diamond Materials to heat plasma to over 100 million degrees Celsius in Proxima's QI-HTS stellarator power plants, under the German BMFTR HeatQIS project.
Quantifiable outcome
- Up to 10 million times more energy than fossil-fuel combustion from fusion reactions without CO2 emissions or meltdown risk.
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Proxima Fusion
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Proxima Fusion technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability2 records
Feature3 records
Proxima Fusion partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
17 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.
- Industrial Development Board (IDB) — Luc Rémont, Dr. Michael Bolle, Ann Mettler, Erich ClementiflagshipIndustrial Development Board convening former EDF/Schneider Electric CEO Luc Rémont, former Bosch CTO/CDO Dr. Michael Bolle, former EC Director-General Ann Mettler, and E.ON Chair Erich Clementi to advise on scaling Proxima's fusion industrialization.
- ThalesflagshipCo-developing next-generation 240 GHz coaxial-cavity gyrotrons with Proxima and KIT under the BMFTR HeatQIS project; Thales is one of the world's leading manufacturers of high-power microwave sources with 40+ years of gyrotron experience.
- Diamond MaterialscoreIndustrial partner in the HeatQIS gyrotron project, contributing industrial expertise in synthetic diamond components for gyrotron windows and reactor interfaces.
- Alpha Alliance (industrial partner network)flagshipEuropean industrial alliance of 50+ companies launched in late February 2026 to industrialize stellarator fusion hardware and serve as a template for European fusion industry development.
- RWE AGflagshipMoU co-signer to build Europe's first commercial stellarator fusion power plant (Stellaris) on RWE's former nuclear site in Gundremmingen; partnership also covers the Alpha demonstration stellarator in Garching.
- Free State of BavariaflagshipMoU co-signer with RWE, Max Planck IPP, and Proxima; committing up to €400 million through its High-Tech Agenda and ~20% co-financing of Stellaris; previously awarded Proxima a €460M funding commitment for fusion development.
- University of Wisconsin–MadisoncoreResearch collaborator on the Stellaris power plant concept and on stellarator physics (e.g., quasi-helical symmetry lineage).
- CEA SaclayminorListed among Proxima's research and institutional partners on the About page.
- Instituto Superior Técnico LisboaminorListed as a Proxima partner in the Stellaris press release and on the About page.
- TUM Venture LabsminorPartner supporting Proxima's Munich deep-tech ecosystem and talent pipelines.
- UnternehmerTUMminorPartner supporting Proxima's Munich deep-tech ecosystem and talent development.
- Max Planck InnovationcoreTechnology transfer partner that facilitated Proxima's spin-out from the Max Planck IPP.
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)flagshipCo-developer of gyrotron technology with Thales and Proxima (HeatQIS project); also a research collaborator on Stellaris. Professor John Jelonnek leads KIT's high-power microwave technology work for Proxima.
- University of BonncoreAcademic partner in the €6.5M BMBF/BMFTR project to develop AI-driven simulation tools for stellarator fusion power plant optimization.
- Technical University of Munich (TUM)coreAcademic partner in the €6.5M BMBF/BMFTR project on AI-driven simulation tools for stellarator fusion power plants; also part of the broader Munich deep-tech ecosystem via TUM Venture Labs.
- Forschungszentrum JülichcoreAcademic partner in the €6.5M BMBF/BMFTR project to develop AI-driven simulation tools for stellarator fusion power plant optimization.
- Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP)flagshipProxima is the first-ever spin-out from IPP, building on the record-breaking Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) experiment; ongoing public-private partnership with IPP scientists on Stellarator theory and design (Helander, Nührenberg, Goodman, Xanthopoulos, Plunk).
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Proxima Fusion competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems: MIT spin-out and the most well-capitalized private fusion company (~$2B raised), pursuing a tokamak approach with HTS magnets. Directly comparable as a venture-backed fusion power plant developer targeting grid-scale commercial deployment in the early-to-mid 2030s.
- Type One Energy: US-based fusion company developing stellarator fusion power plants based on quasi-isomnetic designs. The closest direct competitor to Proxima in the QI-stellarator space and pursuing a similar path to commercial fusion electricity.
- Tokamak Energy: UK-based private fusion company developing compact spherical tokamaks with HTS magnets. Comparable as a European-headquartered, venture-backed fusion power plant developer pursuing grid-scale commercial deployment.
- TAE Technologies: US-based fusion company pursuing field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasma physics with proton-boron fuel. Comparable as a well-funded, late-stage private fusion developer targeting commercial fusion power generation.
- Helion Energy: US-based fusion company developing pulsed magnetic fusion with direct electricity generation, backed by Sam Altman and others. Comparable as a venture-backed fusion developer targeting commercial electricity supply with signed offtake agreements (Microsoft).
- General Fusion: Canadian magnetized target fusion developer backed by Shopify's Jeff Bezos and others; comparable as a venture-backed fusion power plant developer pursuing grid-scale demonstration.
- Zap Energy: US-based sheared-flow Z-pinch fusion developer; comparable as a venture-backed private fusion power plant developer pursuing a distinct confinement approach.
Emerging players
- Renaissance Fusion: European (France-based) fusion startup developing stellarator technology with HTS magnets and manufactured blanket systems. Comparable as a stellarator-focused European fusion peer at an earlier stage of capitalization than Proxima.
- First Light Fusion: UK-based inertial confinement fusion startup. Comparable as a European-headquartered private fusion developer pursuing a different confinement approach to reach commercial fusion power.
Broad incumbents
- ITER Organization: International government-backed tokamak megaproject under construction in France. Comparable as the dominant reference design for magnetic confinement fusion and a potential competitor for talent, supply chain capacity, and regulatory frameworks.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Proxima Fusion social profiles
Digital presenceProxima Fusion compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Proxima Fusion financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Proxima Fusion leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Proxima Fusion funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds10 records
Investors32 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Proxima Fusion M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Proxima Fusion
What does Proxima Fusion do?
Proxima Fusion designs and develops quasi-isodynamic (QI) stellarator-based fusion power plants, using high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets and a proprietary cloud-based simulation framework (StarFinder) for rapid design optimization. Its product roadmap runs from the Stellarator Model Coil (SMC) demonstration magnet in 2027, to the Alpha demonstration stellarator targeting net energy gain in the early 2030s, to Stellaris — the first peer-reviewed integrated concept for a commercial QI-HTS stellarator fusion power plant, targeted for grid deployment in the late 2030s.
Is Proxima Fusion a public or private company?
Proxima Fusion is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Proxima Fusion founded?
Proxima Fusion was founded in 2023. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Proxima Fusion based?
Proxima Fusion is headquartered in Munich, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Proxima Fusion make money?
One revenue line is on record: pre-revenue / Future electricity sales.
Who are Proxima Fusion's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Type One Energy, Tokamak Energy, TAE Technologies, Helion Energy, General Fusion and Zap Energy. Emerging players are Renaissance Fusion and First Light Fusion. ITER Organization is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Proxima Fusion have an API?
No public API is recorded for Proxima Fusion.