Helion’s CEO speculates that its first customers may turn out to be data centers, which have a couple of advantages over other potential customers. If Helion is successful, we can avert climate disaster and provide a much better quality of life for people.” “With a tiny fraction of the money spent on other fusion efforts, and the culture of a startup, this team has a clear path to net electricity. “I’m delighted to be investing more in Helion, which is by far the most promising approach to fusion I’ve ever seen,” said Altman. Ultimately, we need to get it out there in the world, and that’s something Sam can help us do.” The funding is part of it, and the technology is another part of it.
It means we can accelerate the timelines. That’s why we’re excited not only to have him as an investor but have him more actively involved. “He’s seen the successes, and he has seen what they mean. We were really pleased that he was interested in leading the investment, rather than us having to bring in external investors that might have been differently aligned and have a less deep understanding of the technology,” Kirtley explains. He is an ambassador that actually understands physics it’s pretty amazing. He has been involved in our fundraising ever since. “Our first funding round was led by Mithril Capital, and Y Combinator was part of it. Image Credits: Helion EnergyĪs part of the investment round, Sam Altman steps up from being the chairman of the board, to Helion’s executive chairman, with a higher degree of activity, including input into the commercial direction of the company. The Helion team standing by to energize you. “We are building systems that are about the size of a shipping container and that can deliver industrial-scale power - say on the order of 50 megawatts of electricity.” Can we get it out fast, at a low cost? Can we get it to industrial-scale power?” asks David Kirtley, Helion’s co-founder and CEO.
Helion is focused on electricity generation.
“Some projects in the fusion space talk about heat, or energy, or other things. Helion, as a company, has been focusing less on fusion as a science experiment and more on a more important question: Can their technology generate electricity at a commercial and industrial scale? There’s been one catch: So far, it has been hard to get the fusion process to generate more energy than it has been consuming to keep the reaction under control. The technology promises all the benefits of current-generation nuclear fission generators, at a fraction of the risk, with far less radioactivity when running, and with very little radioactive waste. Round-leader Altman has been involved in the company as an investor and chairman since 2015.įusion energy has been a fiery dream for lovers of clean energy since the first controlled thermonuclear fusion reaction was accomplished some 60 years ago. The funding includes commitments of an additional $1.7 billion dollars tied to Helion reaching key performance milestones. Existing investors, including co-founder of Facebook Dustin Moskovitz, Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capital and notable sustainable tech investor Capricorn Investment Group also participated in the round. The round was led by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI and former president of Y Combinator.
#Helium electric generator series
Helion Energy, a clean energy company committed to creating a new era of plentiful, zero-carbon electricity from fusion, today announced the close of its $0.5 billion Series E, with an additional $1.7 billion of commitments tied to specific milestones.
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