The world’s rich have entered a new race toward commercial nuclear power, through rounds of funding for companies working on breakthrough technology, which carries many risks.
This comes after General Fusion raised $ 130 million from investors, including Billionaire Jeff Bezos Help develop a commercial nuclear reactor.
The company said in a statement last Tuesday that the Series E funding round included the Business Development Bank of Canada, hedge fund Segra Capital Management and several investors from the family offices.
General Fusion is part of a growing wave of technology companies seeking to generate electricity through nuclear fusion, the process that powers the stars.
The company said in June that construction of its first UK pilot plant would begin next year.
On the other hand, two billionaires, Bill Gates and John Doerre, participated in a financing round for Commonwealth Fusion Systems, which raised $ 1.8 billion, the largest financing agreement in the field of nuclear fusion.
Tiger Global Management led the Series B funding round, attracting new sponsors, including Time Ventures from Mark Bennives and the Emerson Collective.
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company will use the funds to build and operate a pilot system and begin construction of a commercial fusion reactor that could be completed in early 2030.
The company has raised more than $ 2 billion since its founding in 2018 after it split from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“The world is ready to make significant investments in trade integration as an essential part of the global energy transition,” said Bob Mummgard, CEO of Commonwealth Fusion Systems.
Conventional nuclear plants use fission, the process of dividing atoms, to generate energy. Fusion is the reverse process, which is based on capturing the energy that occurs when atoms collide and fuse into heavier elements.
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