Climate Insider Brief:
- Helion raised $425M in Series F, boosting its valuation to $5.25B, with new investors including Lightspeed and SoftBank.
- The company aims to generate sellable fusion power by 2028, with Polaris expected to be the first fusion device to produce electricity.
- Helion will build in-house capabilities for key components, creating 100 new jobs.
PRESS RELEASE – January 30, 2025 – Helion, the Washington-based fusion energy company backed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, has announced a $425 million Series F funding round, pushing its pre-money valuation to an impressive $5.25 billion. This new capital will help accelerate Helion’s ambitious goal of delivering commercially viable fusion energy by 2028—much sooner than its competitors, who typically target the 2030s or later for similar breakthroughs.
The latest funding round saw participation from major new investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, as well as a significant endowment from an unnamed university. Returning investors—Altman, Capricorn Investment Group, Mithril Capital, Dustin Moskovitz, and Nucor—also contributed. With this investment, Helion has now raised more than $1 billion to date, including the $500 million Series E round led by Altman in 2021.
Fast-Tracking Fusion: A Bold Approach
While fusion energy has long been touted as the “holy grail” of sustainable power, with most companies projecting timelines of several decades, Helion is aiming to do it much faster. Helion has committed to generating sellable electricity from fusion by 2028, a promise underscored by a power purchase agreement with Microsoft.
Last month, Helion powered up Polaris, its seventh and newest fusion prototype, bringing it one step closer to the momentous task of generating electricity from fusion. Although Polaris hasn’t yet produced power, the company believes it will be the first fusion device to reach that milestone.
David Kirtley, CEO of Helion, emphasized the urgency of securing the necessary components for fusion development. He explained, “Our goal is to go from waiting three years for a supplier to give us capacitors to us making our own capacitors but faster, so now we can make them in a year or less.” To meet these ambitious goals, Helion plans to develop an in-house manufacturing process for capacitors and thyristors—critical components in fusion reactors—thereby reducing dependency on external suppliers.
Building for the Future
Kirtley noted that this effort will also create job opportunities, with around 100 new roles expected to be added to Helion’s existing workforce of about 450 employees. In addition to scaling its manufacturing capabilities, the company is actively preparing for the regulatory hurdles that lie ahead, having already engaged with regulators on licensing and grid interconnection requirements.
Helion’s rapid progress toward commercial fusion, coupled with the support of influential investors and strategic partnerships, has set the stage for a transformative shift in the energy sector. As fusion technology advances and the company’s prototypes get closer to generating electricity, Helion’s bold timeline may prove to be a pivotal moment in the future of clean energy.
Source: Ignition
Featured Image: Credit: Helion
