Proxima Fusion and the EIC Accelerator: Europe's Stellarator Bet

Proxima Fusion, founded in Munich in April 2023 as a spin-out of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) and led by co-founder and chief executive Francesco Sciortino, designs quasi-isodynamic stellarators, fusion machines whose twisted magnetic coils confine plasma without the large internal currents and constant control that tokamaks need, building on IPP's Wendelstein 7-X experiment in Greifswald. Its EIC Accelerator project, CSFPP, "Current-free Stellarator for Fusion Power Plants", receives an EU contribution of €2,471,438 and ran from August 2024 to July 2026, according to CORDIS. It supports the design of Alpha, a demonstrator stellarator planned for 2031, and the company's route to a commercial plant in the mid-to-late 2030s.

The first report describes a detailed design and engineering architecture, a plant breakdown structure and requirements map, and Starfinder, a simulation and optimisation framework that analyses stellarator configurations for stability, particle confinement, clearances and wall loads, according to CORDIS. In June 2025 Proxima raised a €130 million Series A co-led by Cherry Ventures and Balderton Capital, "the largest private fusion investment round in Europe", taking total private and public funding above €185 million, according to Proxima Fusion. The funds are to complete a Stellarator Model Coil in 2027 and select a site for Alpha.

Where Proxima Fusion Stands Now

In September 2026 Proxima and the State of Lower Saxony signed a memorandum of understanding for Europe's first large-scale factory for high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tape, the material for stellarator magnets, with about €140 million of investment planned through 2029, according to Proxima Fusion. The EIC Fund is not among the Series A investors named. Its German accounts were not accessible in free sources.

The Technology: Magnetic Cages Designed by Computer

Tokamaks drive a large current through the plasma, which brings instabilities and a need for constant control, the EIC report says. Stellarators shape the magnetic field with external coils instead. Proxima's bet is that computational optimisation and HTS magnets now make stellarators practical, and that the main remaining challenge is engineering integration.

What the EIC Award Promised, and What the Record Shows

The project ended in July 2026 and was a design project: the architecture and optimisation framework are documented in the first report, and Proxima has published its Stellaris plant concept. Only the first-period report is public, and the hardware the design supports, the model coil and Alpha, is years away.

1. Plant design architectureDeliveredProject report.
2. Optimisation frameworkDeliveredStarfinder.
3. Final project resultsNot publishedPeriod 1 only.
4. Demonstrator hardwareAheadCoil 2027, Alpha 2031.

The Money

The EIC grant is small against Proxima's private funding: under 2% of the Series A. The award was blended finance; no EIC Fund investment has been announced.

What Cannot Be Checked

Why Europe Should Care

Proxima turns decades of publicly funded German fusion research at IPP into a commercial programme, and its HTS tape factory would create a European supply chain for a critical material. Fusion power remains unproven commercially, and the company's plant timeline stretches to the late 2030s.

The Verdict

Proxima Fusion and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.