Controlled nuclear fusion emerges as new frontier for China's venture capitalists

HEFEI - Controlled nuclear fusion, a novel experiment within the confines of research labs until recently, is starting to step into the spotlight, capturing the interest of Chinese commercial investors.

With the potential to blossom into the country's new industry in the coming decades, it stands poised to revolutionize the energy landscape and tackle humanity's pressing issue of energy scarcity.

In the eastern Chinese city of Hefei, a fusion reactor, its design evoking the graceful form of a phoenix from an aerial perspective, has begun to hum with partial operational capabilities. Nearby, a new facility called Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak (BEST) is under construction.

Those are China's latest strides in an effort to industrialize the almost inexhaustible fusion energy following the remarkable achievement of the country's "artificial sun," known as EAST, which successfully sustained a steady-state high confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 403 seconds last April.

Building upon the foundation of the EAST, BEST looks set to showcase the generation of electricity through fusion energy for the first time.

Venture investment

Earlier this month, NeoFusion, a startup founded in 2023, which is at the helm of BEST construction, secured significant strategic investment, catapulting it into the exclusive ranks of unicorn companies.

State-owned enterprise China National Petroleum Corporation and Hefei Science Island, controlled by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have become new investors in NeoFusion, each holding a 20 percent stake. Their financial endorsements significantly increased the company's registered capital from an initial 5 billion yuan ($700 million) to 14.5 billion yuan.

Among NeoFusion's founding investors is the city's renowned electric vehicle star, NIO, and Anhui Province Energy, a traditional power generation group.

Fusion development is now at a pivotal juncture, transitioning from the realm of scientific inquiry to the practical domains of engineering and commercial viability, according to a statement of Anhui Province Energy.

In March, Startorus Fusion, a Xi'an-based startup, announced the completion of its Pre-A round of financing, amassing several hundred million yuan.

This innovative enterprise, spearheaded by graduates from Tsinghua University, is also at the forefront of designing a next generation of fusion verification device.

This June, Energy Singularity in Shanghai has achieved a groundbreaking milestone with the successful plasma discharge of a fully high-temperature superconducting tokamak device.

The company has raised nearly 800 million yuan in Series Seed and Series Pre-A funding from renowned institutional investors in 2022 and 2023, according to its official website.

A 2024 report released recently by the Fusion Industry Association (FIA) has shown that the global fusion industry has now attracted over $7.1 billion of investment, with over $900 million of new funds backing the technology since last year.

Total funding came from a wide range of investments across many of the 45 fusion companies, three of them from China, according to the annual report.

This year's continued growth in investment reflected "what we should be seeing in a maturing industry," said Andrew Holland, FIA's CEO.

Although the timeline for the commercialization of controlled nuclear fusion remains uncertain, forward-looking venture capitalists are captivated by its immense potential and China's recent commitment to fostering the growth of future industries.

This January, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China included nuclear fusion into the country's future energy technology roadmap.

The creation of a mechanism for ensuring funding increase for industries of the future has been written into the resolution on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization adopted at the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held last week.

Extra bonus

The benefits envisioned by future technologies don't have to be far off. The by-products of nuclear fusion research are already making their marks in daily lives, such as in the fields of human health and public security.

At a station along Hefei's metro line, passengers are experiencing a seamless security check as they walk past a white machine.

This device, utilizing real-time, non-intrusive detection, can instantly identify the presence of metal, powder or liquid contraband on individuals. It originated from the technology employed in the EAST fusion experiment.

Also, leveraging the city's tokamak facility, Chinese and Russian researchers have developed a cutting-edge superconducting proton radiotherapy system for cancer treatment. Now, this medical technology is on the cusp of advancing into the clinical trial stage.

EAST is catalyzing a surge of innovative applications at an accelerated pace. Its impact also spans the discovery of novel anti-cancer drugs and the enhancement of battery life for new energy vehicles.