First Light Fusion, a nuclear energy spinout of University of Oxford, has secured commitments for £22.7m ($35.4m) in funding from IP Group, University of Oxford, Invesco Asset Management and Sandaire Investment Office.
The funding is subject to First Light Fusion reaching certain undisclosed milestones, and is split into two tranches. The company has held a first close at £14m.
First Light’s technology is based on the discovery of new implosion processes, which are able to reach the temperature and compression necessary for fusion energy.
Fusion is the essentially the opposite of current nuclear energy technology: instead of splitting heavy atoms to produce power, the process combines lighter atoms.
First Light will use the funding to further develop its modelling tools and collaborate with other researchers.
Nick Hawker, chief technology officer and co-founder of First Light, said: “We believe that we have a differentiated approach to developing technology for fusion and these funds will accelerate our vision of affordable, practical and safe energy supply.
“We are already working with a number of leading university research groups, and we will use the new capital to expand this programme.”
