Fuse Energy Technologies Corporation

Last updated
Fuse Energy Technologies Corporation
Company typePrivate
IndustryDefense, Energy
Founded2019
FounderJC Btaiche
HeadquartersSan Leandro, California, United States
Website www.f.energy

Fuse Energy Technologies Corporation (also known as Fuse) is a U.S.-based fusion defense company that provides radiation testing services for national security customers as a path to commercial fusion energy. It builds advanced radiation machines to test the resilience of governments and commercial hardware through short bursts of radiation. [1] Fuse is also developing a fusion generator capable of delivering clean energy. [1] It was founded by JC Btaiche in 2019 and is headquartered in San Leandro, California. [1] [2]

History

In 2019, at 19 years old, JC Btaiche founded Fuse to evaluate various fusion energy approaches. [3] [4]   Fuse ultimately chose to develop an advanced pulsed power machine capable of powering a MagLIF Z-pinch MIF concept. [5]

In February 2024, Fuse was awarded a contract from the U.S. Air Force to develop new nuclear effects testing options for the military. [6] [7] Fuse conducted a live-fire, six-stage test of the world's first high-energy, high-power impedance-matched Marx generator (IMG), called "TITAN," and published experimental results from the machine in Nature Scientific Reports in July 2024. [8] TITAN will serve as Fuse's pulsed power driver for future fusion generators. In the same year, former National Nuclear Security Administrator and Energy Department Under Secretary Lisa Gordon-Hagerty joined the company's board of directors. [3] In 2024, Fuse also announced it was developing designs for two more fusion platforms: a test platform called Z-Star and a pilot fusion plant named Apeiron I. [3] [9]

At its San Leandro headquarters, Fuse operates a radiation facility whose opening was covered by WIRED magazine. [2]

Fuse has contracts with the U.S. Air Force, the National Nuclear Security Administration, as well as Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA) with Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratories. [1] [4] [10]

Former Chief Engineer at Los Alamos National Laboratories, James Owen serves as the President of the company's federal subsidiary, Fuse Federal, LLC. [11] [12] Former Afghanistan base chief for the CIA Laura Thomas serves as the company's Chief Strategy Officer. [1] [4] Former Atomic Energy Organization of Iran nuclear scientist Vahid Damideh serves as the company's Chief Engineer. [4]

Investors in Fuse include Bracket Capital, Tamarack Global, and Buckley Ventures. [1] [13] According to Bloomberg, the company was valued at over $200 million in September 2024. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Nuclear Startup Fuse Valued at Over $200 Million in New Funding". Financial Post . Sep 12, 2024.
  2. 1 2 Lanier, Jaron. "Inside a Fusion Startup's Insane, Top-Secret Opening Ceremony". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2025-04-26.
  3. 1 2 3 Zisk, Rachael (2024-09-16). "Fuse Energy Technologies Raises $32M". Ignition News - Nuclear energy news. Retrieved 2025-04-26.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Jeans, David (July 3, 2024). "Why Top Nuclear Experts And Ex-CIA Brass Joined A High School Grad's Tiny Fusion Startup". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-04-26.
  5. ↑ Mehlhorn, Thomas A. (2024-02-28). "From KMS Fusion to HB11 Energy and Xcimer Energy, a personal 50 year IFE perspective". Physics of Plasmas. 31 (2): 020602. doi: 10.1063/5.0170661 . ISSN   1070-664X.
  6. ↑ Vincent, Brandi (2024-02-28). "Air Force invests in new nuclear effects testing prototypes". DefenseScoop. Retrieved 2025-04-26.
  7. ↑ Stanczyk, Sarah (2025-02-27). "The Convergence of VC and DOE in Fusion Technology". APELC. Retrieved 2025-04-26.
  8. ↑ Damideh, Vahid; Btaiche, J. C.; Ho, Alex; Spielman, R. B.; Lehr, Jane M.; Mehlhorn, T. A.; Hassen, Isaac; Akoulov, Alexei; Aranfar, Elahe; McDonald, Alex; Tochon, Pierre; Choudhury, Ayan; Beaulieu, Emile; Tan, Hao Xian; Yu, Anson (2024-07-23). "Experimental results of a 330 GW impedance-matched Marx generator". Scientific Reports. 14 (1): 16889. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-67774-4. ISSN   2045-2322. PMC   11266602 .
  9. ↑ "Startup Fuse Progresses to Terawatt Z-Pinch Fusion | NextBigFuture.com". 2024-10-21. Retrieved 2025-04-26.
  10. ↑ "Los Alamos National Laboratory chief engineer joins nuclear fusion startup Fuse". Reuters . November 22, 2024.
  11. ↑ Lee, Sing; Damideh, Vahid; Btaiche, J. C. (2023-10-01). "MagLIF: Dynamics and energetics of liner and fuel" . Vacuum. 216 112471. doi:10.1016/j.vacuum.2023.112471. ISSN   0042-207X.
  12. ↑ "Los Alamos National Laboratory's James Owen Leaving Lab After Distinguished 30-Year Career To Enter Private Sector". ladailypost.com. Retrieved 2025-06-15.
  13. ↑ "Exclusive: Tamarack Global raises $72M for second deep tech fund". Axios. 2024-10-30. Retrieved 2025-06-15.
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