Tencent-backed energy researcher snags £33m in race for fusion power
Fusion energy research company First Light Fusion has rounded off its Series C with £33.2m, after Chinese technology giant Tencent waded into the fundraiser.
Braavos Capital joined Tencent as a new investor, as fusion energy pulls in capital-heavy firms with the lure of a limitless, and carbon free source of energy.
Existing investors include IP Group, which backs London-listed Oxford Nanopore.
“With their backing we are excited about the outlook for this year and have a series of ambitious targets,” CEO Dr Nick Hawker said.
“These include delivering a maiden fusion result, accelerating towards our next ‘gain’ experiment, while also increasing our work on the development of a full scale fusion power plant, with more detailed design and engineering work planned.”
First Light has tabled plans to use the extra cash to boost the development of its so-called ‘gain’ experiment, whereby the amount of energy generated outstrips that used to spark the reaction.
Unlike existing nuclear energy, there is no long-lived, radioactive waste, zero meltdown risk, and the necessary raw materials can be found in abundance.
The funding round comes less than a week after European scientists beat their own world record for the amount of energy it can pull out of two forms of hydrogen in the race for reliable fusion power.
While the power European scientists produced was only enough to boil around 60 kettles of water, it more than doubled what the Joint European Torus (JET) achieved in 1997.