What OpenStar Technologies does

OpenStar Technologies is a private, New Zealand–headquartered fusion energy company founded in 2021 by physicist Ratu Mataira. The company is developing levitated dipole fusion reactors — a compact architecture in which a high-temperature superconducting magnet floats freely inside a vacuum chamber to confine plasma, inspired by Earth's magnetosphere. Unlike tokamak or stellarator designs, the magnet sits inside the plasma rather than surrounding it, eliminating support structures that interfere with confinement. OpenStar's core technical stack includes flux pump superconducting power supplies, cryogenic 'slushy' thermal management for the HTS core magnet, and turbulent pinch plasma confinement — a phenomenon in which turbulence concentrates heat toward the core rather than degrading performance. The architecture supports high beta plasmas (up to 100%+ versus ~5% for tokamaks) and modular power output scaling from tens of megawatts to gigawatts.

The company's product roadmap runs from the 'Junior' prototype, which achieved first plasma and successful magnet levitation at over 1,000,000°C in February 2026, to the next-generation 'Tahi' device, with the published goal of demonstrating electricity-producing devices in the 2030s. A June 2026 design publication described the first viable deuterium-tritium levitated dipole fusion power plant. The company is pre-revenue, with no commercial customers, and supports itself through New Zealand government grants (approximately $56M NZD committed, led by the Regional Infrastructure Fund) and a 2023 seed round led by Outset Ventures with participation from Blackbird Ventures, Icehouse Ventures, K1W1, NZ Growth Capital Partners, Ngāi Tahu Holdings, Radar Partners, and Aspire Ventures. The go-to-market motion is enterprise-focused B2B engagement targeting electricity utilities, hyperscale data centres (particularly AI infrastructure requiring multi-gigawatt power), and industrial facilities, with future distribution through direct relationships rather than resellers. As of 2026, the company employs roughly 80 people across Wellington and various US locations, and has formal research collaborations with MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center and Kyoto Fusioneering.

Name

OpenStar Technologies

Legal name

Open Star Technologies Limited

Website

https://openstar.tech

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

OpenStar Technologies is a New Zealand–based deep-tech company developing levitated dipole fusion reactors — compact devices that levitate a superconducting magnet inside a vacuum chamber to confine plasma for clean baseload electricity. It targets utilities, hyperscale data centres, and industrial facilities, with commercial power targeted for the 2030s.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fusion Power Generation

NAICS

Turbine and Turbine Generator Set Units Manufacturing (333611), Engine, Turbine, and Power Transmission Equipment Manufacturing (3336)

SIC

Engines & Turbines (3510), Motors & Generators (3621)

akta.pro primary industry

Gen IV / Advanced Reactor Systems (SFR, LFR, GFR, MSR, HTGR, Microreactors) (EUAKADAC)

Keywords

• Fusion energy
• Levitated dipole reactor
• Plasma confinement
• High-temperature superconducting magnets
• Baseload power generation

Headquarters

HQ city

Wellington

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Fusion Power Plant Electricity Generation: OpenStar plans to sell electricity produced by its fusion reactors to utilities, industrial facilities, and data centres. The company aims to build reactors producing 50 to 200 megawatts of electricity, with scalable capacity from 10s of MW to GW-scale. The design enables early revenue as a neutron source before full commercial viability.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

OpenStar Technologies designs and develops levitated dipole fusion reactors — compact fusion devices that levitate a high-temperature superconducting magnet inside a vacuum chamber to confine plasma, inspired by Earth's magnetosphere. The company is currently in pre-revenue R&D, building prototype reactors ('Junior' achieved first plasma; 'Tahi' is the next-generation device) and engineering modular 50–200 MW fusion power plants targeted at utilities, hyperscale data centres, and industrial facilities for grid-scale baseload electricity and neutron-source applications.

Product overview

OpenStar Technologies is a nuclear fusion startup developing levitated dipole fusion reactors as an alternative to conventional tokamak and stellarator designs. Their core technology uses a superconducting magnet that floats freely in a vacuum chamber, confining plasma through a dipole magnetic field inspired by Earth's magnetosphere. The product portfolio includes the 'Junior' prototype (first levitated dipole device achieving plasma confinement), the 'Tahi' next-generation experiment, and the overall Levitated Dipole Fusion Reactor system designed for electricity production and neutron generation. The company aims to deliver commercial fusion power on the grid in the 2030s with modular reactors capable of outputting 10s of MW to GW of power.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Levitated Dipole Fusion Reactor
• Junior
• Tahi

Quantifiable outcome

• First plasma achieved in under 2 years for under $10M USD — faster and more cost-effectively than any comparable fusion startup
• +3 more outcomes

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

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Kyoto FusioneeringcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 June 2025Kyoto Fusioneering and OpenStar signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in June 2025 to advance fusion collaboration. Kyoto Fusioneering is a Japanese company specialising in fusion engineering technologies. The partnership aims to combine expertise to accelerate progress toward commercial fusion energy.
• MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 December 2024OpenStar launched a formal collaboration with MIT PSFC in late 2024. MIT PSFC is a leading fusion research institution that conducted foundational levitated dipole experiments (LDX) from 1998 to 2014 in collaboration with Columbia University. This collaboration provides OpenStar with access to decades of levitated dipole research expertise.
• Robinson Research InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpenStar was co-founded out of Victoria University of Wellington's Robinson Research Institute. The institute's pioneering work in high-temperature superconducting systems and electric machines, led by Professor Rod Badcock, forms a core technical foundation for OpenStar's fusion reactor development.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Zap Energy: Zap Energy is developing sheared-flow Z-pinch fusion, an alternative magnetic confinement approach with lower capital intensity. It is a direct peer in the commercial fusion race, with similar target customers and use cases as OpenStar.
• Tokamak Energy: Tokamak Energy is developing spherical tokamak fusion reactors using high-temperature superconducting magnets, similar in approach to OpenStar's use of HTS for advanced confinement. Targets commercial fusion power and is a direct competitor in alternative fusion architectures.
• Helion Energy: Helion is developing a pulsed fusion approach using deuterium-helium-3 fuel with direct electricity conversion, with a stated target of commercial electricity generation by 2028. It is a direct competitor in commercial fusion power targeting utilities and data centres.
• Type One Energy: Type One Energy is developing stellarator fusion reactors using HTS magnets, pursuing an alternative magnetic confinement approach to tokamaks. It targets commercial fusion power and is a direct peer in alternative fusion architecture development.
• TAE Technologies: TAE Technologies is developing field-reversed configuration (FRC) fusion with a focus on proton-boron (p-B11) aneutronic fuel. Like OpenStar, it pursues an alternative to mainstream tokamak designs and targets commercial fusion power generation.
• General Fusion: General Fusion is developing magnetised target fusion (MTF), a distinct alternative to magnetic confinement approaches like OpenStar's dipole. It targets commercial fusion power plant deployment and pursues similar utility and industrial customer segments.
• First Light Fusion: First Light Fusion is pursuing inertial confinement fusion using projectile-driven approaches. It is a direct peer in commercial fusion development, pursuing similar target customers for clean baseload power, although using a fundamentally different confinement approach.
• Commonwealth Fusion Systems: Commonwealth Fusion Systems is developing a compact tokamak fusion reactor (SPARC/ARC) using high-temperature superconducting magnets. It is the most well-funded private fusion company (>$2B raised) and a direct competitor in the race to commercial fusion power for utilities and industrial customers.

Broad incumbents

• ITER: ITER is a multi-national, government-funded tokamak fusion project under construction in France. As the largest fusion project globally with a budget measured in tens of billions, it represents the dominant mainstream approach that OpenStar's architecture is positioned as a faster, cheaper alternative to.

Emerging players

• Kyoto Fusioneering: Kyoto Fusioneering specialises in fusion engineering technologies (plasma heating, tritium fuel cycle, blanket systems) and is a strategic partner of OpenStar via a 2025 MOU. It is an adjacent player in the fusion supply chain rather than a competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/openstar-technologies

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors9 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 OpenStar Technologies