 |
 |
01 Apr 2025
Series B 'extension' includes backing from Siemens Energy Ventures and the European Innovation Council.
Marvel Fusion, the Munich-headquartered company that is looking to develop laser-based fusion energy systems, says it has added a further €50 billion to its series B round of funding.
The latest investment, which comes courtesy of EQT Ventures, Siemens Energy, and the first foray into fusion energy by the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, adds to the €63 million that Marvel had announced in November last year, and brings total support to €385 million (comprising €170 million in private investment and €215 million in publicly-funded projects).
“The extended financing round further supports Marvel Fusion’s transition from its research and development phase toward industrial deployment,” announced the company.
“Additionally, Marvel Fusion is progressing its industrial partnership with Siemens Energy by jointly developing a conceptual design of a fully integrated fusion power plant.”
Femtosecond pulses
Marvel also explained that it was currently working on two laser prototypes, while actively forging industrial partnerships that are intended to result in a ramp-up of laser production.
Unlike most companies looking to commercialize laser fusion, Marvel’s approach is based around femtosecond pulses, which it plans to fire at a “nanostructured” fuel to enhance the fusion of protons and boron-11 isotopes.
Through a Colorado State University collaboration the startup is also due to build a new $150 million laboratory in Fort Collins, under a public-private partnership supported via the US Department of Energy’s “LaserNetUS” program.
Moritz von der Linden, the founder and CEO of Marvel Fusion, said in a statement announcing the additional series B finance:
“Welcoming the EIC Fund, EQT Ventures and Siemens Energy to our shareholder board is fantastic; it gives us the financial and operational backing for executing the required milestones towards building the world’s first fusion prototype.”
One industrial partnership features Germany-based Pulsed Light Technologies (PLT), which was founded in August 2023 with the aim of building two different laser systems in up to five years, and proving their functionality with the help of demonstrators.
500 lasers needed
Established under the “SPRIND” innovation effort, which is funded by the German government, PLT’s founding aim is to develop laser systems capable of supporting commercially viable fusion power plant operation.
PLT's CTO Antonia Schmalz said: “Providing the initial funding for the first two prototypes, SPRIND is committed to supporting Marvel Fusion’s path to scaled laser production and their further mission to build a fusion power plant.”
In an article on the SPRIND web site Schmalz points out that even though the current aims are limited to establishing a demonstrator plant, such an effort would still require between ten and one hundred laser systems, depending on the specific approach to fusion. An actual power plant is expected to need around 500 laser systems.
Marvel says that amid growing geopolitical tension, rising demand for electricity, and increased urgency for energy sovereignty across Europe, the European Commission has now explicitly identified fusion energy as “no longer a research subject”.
Instead, the topic is now viewed as “an industrial challenge with immense potential for Europe's industry, competitiveness, and strategic autonomy,” with Marvel aiming to establish a unique position with its particular approach to the challenge.
Svetoslava Georgieva, who chairs the EIC Fund Board, added in the company’s announcement: “The European Innovation Council’s Fund participation underscores a significant advance, demonstrating the EIC commitment to high-impact innovation by private fusion companies and in line with fusion technology's position as a strategic technology for Europe.”
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| © 2025 SPIE Europe |
|
