Proxima Fusion is a European fusion energy company founded in 2023 in Munich, Germany, as the first research spin-off from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics.[1] Its stated goal is to design the first generation of fusion power plants using a quasi-isodynamic stellarator (QI stellarator).[2]
History
Proxima was founded in April 2023 by Francesco Sciortino, Lucio Milanese, Jorrit Lion, Jonathan Schilling, and Martin Kubie, former scientists and engineers from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and X Development (was Google-X).[3]
The company initially raised €7.5 million in pre-seed funding from Plural Platform, UVC Partners, Visionaries Club, Wilbe, High-Tech Gründerfonds, and others, followed by a €20 million seed round led by redalpine, with participation from Bayern Kapital, DeepTech & Climate Fonds, and the Max Planck Foundation.[4]