California-based fusion start-up Inertia Enterprises has announced a strategic partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to accelerate the commercialisation of laser-based fusion energy. This collaboration is among the largest private sector-led partnerships in the history of the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) national lab system. It aims to bridge the gap between the scientific breakthroughs achieved at LLNL’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) and the industrial scale required for a commercial power plant. To date, NIF is the only facility in the world to successfully demonstrate fusion energy gain.
The agreement consists of three major components designed to advance Inertia Enterprises’ path to grid-scale fusion:
- A Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) focused on prototyping advanced optical materials and next-generation semiconductor laser diodes;
- Two Strategic Partnership Projects (SPPs) dedicated to scaling the manufacturing and performance of fusion fuel targets, which are critical for high-gain fusion reactions; and
- Patent Licensing – Inertia has licensed nearly 200 patents from LLNL, giving them access to decades of foundational fusion technology.
This follows Inertia’s significant $450m Series A funding round in February. The company was co-founded in 2024 by high-profile leaders with deep ties to LLNL. Dr Andrea “Annie” Kritcher, Co-founder and Chief Scientist, led the landmark 2022 experiment at NIF that first achieved scientific breakeven. Jeff Lawson, CEO and co-founder, was formerly the CEO of Customer Engagement Platform Twilio. Mike Dunne, CTO and co-founder, was a former director of fusion programmes at LLNL and a professor at Stanford University. Under a special agreement enabled by the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, Dr Kritcher is permitted to retain her research role at LLNL.
“Decades of public investment in fusion science have created a foundation that only America’s national labs could have built. Inertia exists to take that foundation and do what the private sector does best: build at scale and deliver commercial impact,” said Jeff Lawson.
LLNL Director Kim Budil noted: “We are committed to ensuring that the 60 years of public investment, fusion leadership, and scientific breakthroughs achieved here don’t stay in the laboratory. This agreement, along with other public-private partnerships, is how we accelerate that effort. This partnership positions LLNL’s world-leading expertise in inertial fusion science, laser technology, physics design, and target fabrication to directly inform the industrial-scale development that commercial fusion demands.”
Under the contract, LLNL staff will apply the same design codes used to achieve ignition to help Inertia design its high-gain fusion target with greater confidence. A large team of LLNL scientists working with Inertia’s team of experts are both developing the target physics design as well as the techniques for rapid target manufacturing capable of meeting the design specifications necessary for grid-scale fusion power plant operation.
“These agreements catalyse progress toward building the world’s first fusion power plant by combining unique expertise and resources across government and industry,” said Mike Dunne. “Our work with LLNL speeds up timelines for the multiple innovations vital for commercial fusion energy, bolstering Inertia’s work with other industry and research partners as we develop the processes and supply chains that future fusion power plants will depend on.”
“After more than two decades at LLNL working on inertial fusion and high-energy-density physics… I’ve always asserted that realising this at scale requires a deep partnership with the lab to fully leverage the capability and experience,” said Dr Kritcher. “Ignition at LLNL showed this approach to fusion works. At Inertia, we now get to build on that foundation and push it to industrial scale. There’s no better team positioned to take this on than the Inertia team, working closely together with the LLNL teams through these robust partnerships, enabling moving quickly from day one.”
