Funding Alert Fusion Power

Bill Gates-Backed Type One Energy Secures $87M to Commercialize Fusion Power

• ByStartupStory     |    January 15, 2026

Type One Energy Group, the fusion energy startup developing compact stellarator reactors, has raised $82.5 million in a Series A1 extension round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures (Bill Gates’ climate fund), bringing total funding to $87 million and accelerating its path to grid-scale fusion electricity.

The round includes participation from existing investors like SK Group, Centaurus Capital, and energy majors, pushing Type One’s valuation past $500 million. With a prototype reactor targeted for 2028 and commercial plants by early 2030s, Type One aims to deliver carbon-free baseload power at $30-50/MWh – competitive with solar + storage.

Stellarators Done Right: Steady-State Fusion

Founded in 2019 by MIT plasma physicist Chris Mowry and serial entrepreneur Evan Gardner, Type One Energy solves fusion’s biggest engineering challenge: plasma stability. Unlike tokamaks (ITER, Commonwealth Fusion) that pulse on/off, stellarators maintain continuous fusion through exquisitely precise magnetic coils.

Core innovation – Infinity One design:

• High-temperature superconductors: 20 tesla fields double plasma confinement vs copper magnets

• AI-optimized geometry: Machine learning designs coil shapes unachievable by humans

• Modular factory fabrication: Reduces construction from 10 years/$20B to 3 years/$1B per GW

• Tritium self-sufficiency: Blanket tech breeds more fuel than consumed

400-person team includes 100+ ex-ITER, PPPL, and General Fusion veterans. Test coils operational at Tennessee headquarters; plasma physics validated through Oak Ridge National Lab partnerships.

Capital Powers Commercial Inflection

$87M funds three mission-critical milestones:

• Infinity One prototype: 100 MW thermal plant operational 2028 proving steady-state operation

• Fusion fuel factory: Pilot tritium breeding blanket online 2027

• Site selection: Partner with US utility for first 500 MW commercial plant

Breakthrough Energy Ventures Partner Rachel Slaybaugh emphasized: “Type One derisks stellarators from physics curiosity to commercial reality. Their factory-built approach solves fusion’s scale bottleneck.”

Perfect Timing: Climate Math + Tech Convergence

Type One converges four forces:

• Net-zero deadlines: Utilities face 2030 carbon targets, nuclear renaissance

• High-temp superconductor maturity: REBCO tapes now commercially available

• AI simulation revolution: 1000x faster plasma modeling accelerates iteration

• Utility desperation: $10 trillion grid upgrade needs dispatchable clean power

ITER delays (2035+) create market window. Tokamaks fight physics limits; Type One’s stellarator sidesteps pulsing complexity.

Path to Trillion-Dollar Energy Company

Series B targets $500M+ post-Infinity One (2029). First revenue from fusion test reactors licensing. Commercial plants ramp to 10 GW annual deployment by 2035 at 15% margins.

Type One proves fusion winners won’t be physics PhDs – they’ll be manufacturing engineers. Bill Gates just doubled down on the team solving clean energy’s final engineering puzzle: steady-state plasma confinement at utility scale.

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