Type One Secures $82.5 Million to Advance Fusion Technology

Type One, a startup focused on fusion technology, has successfully raised an additional $53.5 million, bringing its total funding to approximately $82.5 million in 2023. CEO Christofer Mowry expressed confidence in the company's strategy to expedite the commercialization of its fusion reactor by collaborating closely with partners. The company aims to finalize its reactor design by the end of the decade, paving the way for a third party to begin construction. The reactor developed by Type One is a stellarator, a design that differs from the more widely known tokamak. This innovative approach relies on magnets to create a specialized field that confines super-heated plasma essential for fusion reactions. While the stellarator concept is not new, it requires significant computational resources to optimize its design. Mowry highlighted the challenges of scaling existing models, such as the German Wendelstein 7-X, which would need to be substantially larger to function as a power plant. To enhance its design capabilities, Type One has partnered with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to utilize the Summit supercomputer, which boasts extraordinary computational power. This partnership allows the company to refine its reactor design significantly compared to earlier models. Additionally, Type One is employing a magnet design licensed from MIT, adapting it for the unique requirements of a stellarator. The company plans to construct a prototype reactor named Infinity One, which will run parallel to the design process for a pilot reactor. Mowry stated that testing Infinity One will validate critical design elements for the future pilot plant, with hopes of finalizing the pilot design by 2030 for licensing to another company.