Seattle startup Avalanche Energy is raising new funding to develop its compact fusion energy devices. A new SEC filing reveals a fresh $14.9 million round.
A company spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by GeekWire.
Avalanche and dozens of companies around the world are vying for scientific breakthroughs that would allow them to generate electricity from fusion reactions on a commercially viable scale. The sun and stars are the masters of fusion, smashing together light atoms under high-pressure, super hot conditions to produce energy.
Avalanche is pursuing a different strategy than many of its competitors, building desktop-sized energy devices and working multiple angles for revenue generation. That includes:
- Using its fusion machine to produce neutrons for customers in industries such as advanced materials science, semiconductor manufacturing, nuclear power and specialized medical treatments.
- The company has a Pentagon contract from the Defense Innovation Unit to develop technology for space propulsion and power generation.
- Last year, the startup landed a $10 million grant from the state to launch FusionWERX, a commercial-scale testing facility for fusion technologies in Eastern Washington.
Avalanche had previously raised $50 million from investors that include Chris Sacca’s Lowercarbon Capital, Founders Fund, Toyota Ventures, Azolla Ventures and others.
The fusion industry produced surprising headlines shortly before Christmas with the announcement of a $6 billion planned merger between Trump Media & Technology Group and California fusion company TAE Technologies.
The partnership aims to site and begin building what it calls the world’s first utility-scale fusion plant this year, with Trump Media committing $300 million in near-term funding. President Trump is the largest shareholder of Trump Media, the publicly-traded parent company of the social media platform Truth Social.
Avalanche is part of a fusion hub in the Pacific Northwest that includes two additional Seattle-area companies working to harness fusion power.
- Helion Energy in July broke ground on what it says will be the first fusion plant to put power on the grid starting in 2028.
- Zap Energy expects in the near future to commission its fifth fusion device, allowing it to continue testing and optimizing the different systems required by the technology.
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