Avalanche Energy’s team at its Seattle headquarters in March 2023. (Avalanche Photo)

The news: Micro-fusion startup Avalanche Energy announced a $40 million funding round on Monday. The Seattle-based company is developing a small-scale solution for fusion power, which is called clean energy’s “Holy Grail” because of its potential for generating unlimited amounts of power.

The investors: Chris Sacca’s Lowercarbon Capital led the Series A round, with major participation from Founders Fund and Toyota Ventures. Other investors include Azolla Ventures, Congruent Ventures, Grantham Foundation and Clear Path, who all participated in the company’s $5 million seed round. New backers Autodesk, MCJ Collective and the Climate Capital Syndicate also invested.

The milestone: The startup also announced that it reached a technology milestone, operating at 200 kV (kilovolt) with its second-generation fusion device, which is called Marty.

CEO Robin Langtry said it could be the highest operating voltage by any fusion device, breaking the 190kV record set at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 2006.

“We’re making really steady progress,” Langtry said. “The machines are scaling how we think they should.”

The science: Fusion energy is created by smashing atoms together that fuse and release power — it’s the same reaction that fuels the Sun. Engineers can create fusion, but the challenge is capturing more energy from the system than it takes to generate the conditions needed for fusion to happen.

Producing higher voltages puts more energy into the system in which the ions are fusing — kind of like turning up a stove to bring water to a boil. Avalanche is aiming to reach 300kV with its Marty device over the next six months to a year.

Avalanche Energy co-founders Chief Operating Officer Brian Riordan (left) and CEO Robin Langtry alongside their test fusion device at their Seattle facility in March 2022. (GeekWire Photo / Lisa Stiffler)

The strategy: Avalanche is developing small-scale fusion devices — systems the size of a large shoe box that could fit on a desktop. The micro-fusion reactors could compete against hydrogen fuel cells in industries such as long-haul trucking, maritime shipping and aviation; could also get plugged into smaller electrical grids; or could be used in combination with clean energy sources. Toyota, for example, is interested in using fusion reactors to run devices that produce hydrogen fuel.

The background: Avalanche launched in 2018 and came out of stealth in January 2022. Over the past year, the team has grown to 25 scientists and engineers and the startup doubled the size of its testing facility, which is located in South Seattle.

Langtry and co-founder and Chief Operations Officer Brian Riordan met at Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space company in Kent, Wash., where both worked on rocket propulsion systems.

The fusion hub: The Pacific Northwest has established itself as a hub for fusion companies and research. In addition to Avalanche, the region is home to Helion Energy and Zap Energy in Everett, Wash., and British Columbia’s General Fusion. Japan’s Kyoto Fusioneering, which provides commercialization support for the sector, recently opened an office in Seattle. The University of Washington and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory also provide fusion expertise and research.

Go deeper on the sector: There are still fusion skeptics who remain unconvinced that the field — which is decades old — will be able to technically achieve its goal of affordable, commercialized fusion.

The industry got a boost earlier this month when the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) — the agency that oversees fission-powered nuclear reactors — decided that it will not apply the same licensing regulations to fusion as are used for fission.

Unlike fission, fusion reactors cannot experience a meltdown and are significantly safer. The plan is to have state departments of health issue the licenses. The departments already regulate the use of radioactive materials in healthcare and hospital settings. Langtry expects it will be easier to work with state officials than workers in a remote federal agency.

“It’s a huge win from the level of effort to get a license to operate,” Langtry said. “It’s going to really accelerate the technology because we won’t be waiting around three for five years to get a license.”

Avalanche last year won a Pentagon contract from the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to develop a fusion device called the Orbitron for space propulsion and power generation. DIU aims to have Orbitron fusion devices used in flight demonstrations by late 2027.

Then the company would be able to take that technology and adapt it for commercial uses back on Earth.

Editor’s note: Story was updated to add Azolla Ventures to the investor’s list.

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to GeekWire's free newsletters to catch every headline

Job Listings on GeekWork

Find more jobs on GeekWork. Employers, post a job here.