Google has backed Germany-based Proxima Fusion, which is looking to build Europe’s first power plant, for a total of 411 million euros ($468 million), the company announced on Tuesday.
Nuclear fusion is the process of fusing two hydrogen atoms to form one helium atom, releasing enormous amounts of energy.
Although promising an abundance of potential, the technology has yet to be commercially deployed, and the industry is racing to overcome technological challenges. All current nuclear power plants use fission, which involves the splitting of atoms.
Google’s investment underscores its continued interest in fusion as a potential source of abundant, carbon-free, sustainable energy in the long term, Proxima, valued at $2.7 billion, said.
The round was led by XTX Ventures and East X Ventures, RWE and Google as strategic investors. Other firms including Plural, UVC Partners, Balderton and Cherry Ventures also participated.
“Europe is racing with the United States and China to be the first to generate electricity,” said Francesco Sciortino, founder and CEO, in a statement.
“Proxima’s financing shows that Europe can not only create cutting-edge technology, but also build globally competitive companies around it,” he added.
“Investors see both the urgency and opportunity of what we are doing and are supporting us to develop a manufacturing energy technology company.”
What is stellarator fusion technology?
Proxima is developing stellarator technology, one of several fusion methods, and hopes to have its integrated reflector – a precursor to the commercial power plant concept – operational by the early 2030s.
A commercial power plant is targeted for later in the decade, the company said.
Proxima said the funding will help it expand its high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cable and magnet production, as well developing the engineering and manufacturing systems required for stellarators.
Proxima will hire across engineering, manufacturing and operations to accelerate progress, he said.
How does Proxima compare to US fusion startups
While Proxima is the most funded integration startup in Europe by some distance, US tech companies have grown the most.
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) raised $863 million in August, to take its funding to $2.9 billion, according to Dealroom. Sam Altman-backed Helion Energy raised $465 million last month, bringing its total funding to $1.5 billion.
Google is also an investor in CFS and signed an exit agreement in June 2025 with the company once its first sales center is live.
“Fusion has enormous potential as the energy source of the future: it’s clean, abundant and environmentally safe, and it can be built almost anywhere,” the company said in a blog post at the time.
Highlighting the remaining hurdles to overcome with the technology, Google added that while the merger could change the world, commercializing the technology “is a huge challenge, and success is not guaranteed.”
