German nuclear fusion startup Proxima Fusion has raised €411 million ($469.69 million) in a fresh funding round, securing backing from a range of investors, including national energy company RWE AG and Alphabet Inc.’s Google.
The company said the capital will support its efforts to develop a nuclear fusion power plant that it hopes will become operational in the 2030s.
The latest fundraising values the three-year-old company at €2.4 billion and marks another step in its plans to build a fusion energy facility at a decommissioned RWE nuclear power site in Bavaria.
Funding round backed by new and existing investors
The financing round was led by XTX Ventures, the investment arm of Alex Gerko’s algorithmic trading firm XTX Markets Ltd, alongside London-based East X Ventures.
According to Proxima Fusion, around €150 million of the newly raised capital came from the two lead investors.
Existing investors contributed a similar amount, while additional backing came from KfW Capital, the investment division of Germany’s state bank, and the European Union’s EIC Fund.
The company said that more than 90% of its investors are based in Europe.
Proxima Fusion previously raised €130 million in 2025.
With the latest financing, it said it has secured more than €650 million in total funding to date, including €95 million in public grants.
Bavaria project remains central to the expansion strategy
The funding is expected to support the development of the company’s planned fusion facility in Bavaria.
In February, Proxima Fusion announced that the demonstrator for the project, known as Alpha, would cost approximately €2 billion.
The company committed to funding one-fifth of the project’s cost, while the state of Bavaria also pledged to contribute a similar share.
Francesco Sciortino, Chief Executive Officer of Proxima Fusion, said the company expects the remaining funding to come from Germany’s federal government and the European Union.
“We’ve done what we promised to do,” Sciortino said in an interview.
Google joins as a strategic investor
Nuclear fusion remains an experimental technology, with no commercial fusion plants currently in operation.
However, the sector has attracted growing attention as technology companies look for future sources of carbon-free electricity to power expanding data centre operations.
Google has joined Proxima Fusion as a strategic investor.
However, Sciortino said there are currently no specific plans between the two companies related to data centres.
He declined to disclose the size of Google’s investment.
However, German utility company RWE invested €25 million euros in the funding round.
The investment follows Google’s agreement in 2025 to purchase 200 megawatts of electricity from Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a US-based fusion energy company that Google also supports.
Company highlights stellarator technology
Proxima Fusion’s technology is based on a stellarator, a twisted doughnut-shaped device that uses powerful magnets to confine extremely hot plasma in an effort to produce nuclear fusion reactions.
Sciortino said the stellarator design offers greater stability than alternative approaches, including large tokamak reactors and newer laser-based methods.
The company operates offices in Munich, Zurich, and Oxford, and now describes itself as Europe’s “best-funded” nuclear fusion company following the latest fundraising.
CEO says the company is moving faster than competitors
Despite the new funding, Proxima Fusion still trails several US competitors in total capital raised.
Commonwealth Fusion Systems has secured nearly $3 billion from investors, while Helion Energy Inc., backed by Sam Altman, has also attracted significantly larger funding.
Sciortino, however, argued that comparisons should take into account the age of the companies.
“We are faster than anyone else,” he said.
The company maintains that the latest funding strengthens its position as it works toward bringing commercial nuclear fusion technology closer to reality while advancing its planned demonstration project in Bavaria.
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