Helion Energy announced Thursday that it will receive backing from two prominent venture capital firms to help commercialize a fusion reactor for small power plants.
The company's technology relies on magneto-inertial fusion, a process that heats deuterium and helium until it forms masses of plasma that are driven together within a powerful magnetic field. The plasma physics at the heart of the reactor has been researched for decades, but Helion scientists believe the design concept they developed at University of Washington spinoff MSNW can be developed to produce as much energy as it consumes in the next three years.
The company told TechCrunch that Y Combinator and Mithril Capital Management became convinced of its potential and recently promised to invest $1.5 million in the project. Helion's research is also supported by an earlier $5 million award from the Department of Energy.