Investors bet record €130mln on German fusion startup Proxima

German startup Proxima Fusion has raised 130 million euros from private investors. The record funding reflects both growing optimism that nuclear fusion will provide plentiful and clean energy in the not-too-distant future, and Europe’s progress in establishing a global research lead. Proxima will use the money to build an extremely complex magnet, which is central to its approach, and soon choose a European country for a demonstrator fusion power plant. The company’s eventual aim is to “deliver limitless, safe, clean fusion energy to the grid in the 2030s” – a timeline many observers believe is unrealistic.