US start-up Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) has raised $863m in a Series B2 funding round. The oversubscribed round of capital is the largest amount raised among deep tech and energy companies since its 2021 funding round raised $1.8bn. To date, CFS has raised close to $3bn, about one-third of the total capital invested in private fusion companies worldwide.
CFS, spun-out from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2018, will use the funds to complete its SPARC tokamak under construction in Devens, Massachusetts. It will also progress development work on its planned ARC power plant in Chesterfield County, Virginia, which CFS expects will begin operation in the early 2030s. In July, Google signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for 200 MWe from the ARC power plant.
In the latest funding round, CFS expanded its global footprint by adding international investors from a widening range of sectors, including venture capitalists, private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds, leading individual investors, industrials, hedge funds, pension funds and banks.
New investors in CFS include: Brevan Howard Macro Venture Fund; Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley); Stanley Druckenmiller; FFA Private Bank (Dubai) Ltd; Galaxy Interactive, a venture platform within Galaxy Digital; Gigascale Capital; HOF Capital; Neva SGR (Intesa Sanpaolo Bank); NVentures (Nvidia’s venture capital arm); Planet First Partners; Woori Venture Partners US; and others.
A consortium of 12 Japanese companies led by Mitsui & Co Ltd and Mitsubishi Corp also participated. The Japanese consortium included Development Bank of Japan; Fujikura Ltd; JERA Co; JGC Japan Corp; Mitsui Fudosan Co Ltd; Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd; NTT; Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp; Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Ltd; and The Kansai Electric Power Co.
Existing CFS investors, who increased their stakes, included: Breakthrough Energy Ventures; Emerson Collective; Eni; Future Ventures; Gates Frontier; Google; Hostplus Superannuation Fund; Khosla Ventures; Lowercarbon Capital; Safar Partners; Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google; Starlight Ventures; Tiger Global; a large state pension fund and others.
“CFS offers investors the clearest path to bringing commercial fusion to the world – and an unprecedented opportunity to make a real impact as global demand for power accelerates with electrification and increased use of AI and data centres,” said Ally Yost, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at CFS. “Along with the promise of energy independence and security, fusion power will help to expand energy access, and with it, improve quality of life.”
