Nuclear Tech Startup TAE Raises $250M to Commercialize Zero Emissions, Non-Radioactive Fusion Energy
Nuclear fusion startup TAE Technologies announced today that it has raised $250 million in a Series G-2 financing round to fund the construction of its next research reactor as the company works towards its goal to commercialize clean fusion power.
Founded in 1998, California-based TAE is pioneering the development of fusion-based energy using non-radioactive hydrogen-boron, the “cleanest, safest, most economical terrestrial fuel cycle for fusion, with no geopolitical concerns or proliferation risks.” The company’s advanced beam-driven field-reversed configuration (FRC) combines plasma physics and accelerator physics, and is developed to provide carbon-free energy to the grid.
Investors in the current financing round included Google, which has collaborated with the company since 2014 through a machine learning partnership, as well as Chevron, Sumitomo, Reimagined Ventures, and TIFF Investment Management, among others. To date, TAE has raised $1.2 billion.
Michl Binderbauer, CEO of TAE Technologies, said:
“The caliber and interest of our investors validates our significant technical progress and supports our goal to begin commercialization of fusion by the end of this decade. Global electricity demand is growing exponentially, and we have a moral obligation to do our utmost to develop a baseload power solution that is safe, carbon-free, and economically viable.”
TAE’s fifth-generation reactor, “Norman,” was launched in 2017 and it has proven capable of sustaining stable plasma at 75 million degrees Celsius after initially being designed to keep plasma stable at 30 million degrees. Proceeds from the financing will be used for the construction of the next research reactor, Copernicus, in Irvine, California. The company’s sixth reactor, “Copernicus,” will be designed to designed to demonstrate the viability of achieving net energy generation with TAE’s FRC approach.
Jim Gable, Vice President, Innovation and President of Chevron Technology Ventures, said:
“TAE – and fusion technology as a whole – has the potential to be a scalable source of no-carbon energy generation and a key enabler of grid stability as renewables become a greater portion of the energy mix.”