Proxima Fusion is a Munich-based fusion energy company founded in 2023 as the first spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP). The company is building the first generation of quasi-isodynamic high-temperature superconducting (QI-HTS) stellarator fusion power plants, directly building on the record-breaking results of the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) experiment. Its two flagship programs are Alpha — a net-energy-gain demonstration stellarator planned for operations in the early 2030s near Garching, Bavaria — and Stellaris, the world's first peer-reviewed integrated concept for a commercial fusion power plant, intended for the site of a former nuclear fission plant in Gundremmingen.

The company pursues a simulation- and AI-driven engineering approach, combining rapid hardware prototyping with advanced computational optimization to compress development timelines. Key near-term milestones include the Stellarator Model Coil (SMC), a full-scale HTS magnet demonstration targeted for 2027, and the design finalization of Alpha. Proxima works through the Alpha Alliance, a consortium of 30+ industrial partners and research institutions, and has signed agreements with RWE, the Free State of Bavaria, and Max Planck IPP to anchor Alpha and Stellaris in Germany.

In just three years Proxima has raised over €650 million in combined public and private funding, growing to nearly 200 employees across offices in Munich, Zurich, and Oxford. Investors include XTX Ventures, East X Ventures, Google, RWE, Balderton Capital, Cherry Ventures, Lightspeed, DST Global Partners, KfW Capital, and many others. The company has also secured ~€95 million in public grants from German federal and Bavarian state programs, and signed an MoU with Lower Saxony to establish Europe's first large-scale fusion-grade HTS tape production facility.