Acceleron Fusion, a pioneer in muon-catalyzed fusion energy, has closed a $24 million Series A funding round. The funding will fuel Acceleron's efforts to advance its unique approach to clean, safe, and abundant energy. Acceleron is developing an intense, high-efficiency muon source to produce beams of muons using significantly less energy than current facilities, and a high-density fusion cell to allow each of these muons to catalyze larger numbers of fusion reactions. In October, Acceleron achieved a significant technical milestone by running its machine with highly compressed deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel, capturing data on 28 hours of continuous fusion, after more than 100 hours of testing with deuterium. Acceleron Fusion, Inc. is based in Cambridge, MA.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Acceleron Fusion, a pioneer in muon-catalyzed fusion energy, has closed a $24 million Series A funding round. The round was co-led by Lowercarbon Capital and Collaborative Fund. This funding marks a significant step in advancing a breakthrough fusion technology that could redefine the future of clean energy while enhancing energy security and independence.
The funding will fuel Acceleron's efforts to advance its unique approach to clean, safe, and abundant energy. Traditional fusion machines require extreme temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius. Acceleron's technology uses muons—heavy subatomic particles—to achieve fusion reactions at temperatures below 1,000 degrees Celsius. This approach could speed the transition of fusion from the lab to practical, deployable power plants. Muon-catalyzed fusion, first discovered in the 1950s, is a proven and well-understood physical process. In the mid 1980s, several groups worldwide demonstrated more than 100 fusion reactions per muon, raising the possibility that the process could be used to generate energy. However, calculations done at the time concluded that it would take more energy to power the muon source than could be released by the fusion.
Acceleron is developing an intense, high-efficiency muon source to produce beams of muons using significantly less energy than current facilities, and a high-density fusion cell to allow each of these muons to catalyze larger numbers of fusion reactions. The company is building on decades of previous work in muon production and muon-catalyzed fusion by university and national lab researchers – and leveraging recent advances in materials science, computer simulation, and machine learning to develop the technology to the level of efficiency needed for energy production.
In October, Acceleron achieved a significant technical milestone by running its machine with highly compressed deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel, capturing data on 28 hours of continuous fusion, after more than 100 hours of testing with deuterium. The team is using the High Intensity Proton Accelerator and Swiss Muon Source at the Paul Scherrer Institute.
Founders Ara Knaian and Seth Newburg previously founded NK Labs, a deep-tech contract R&D firm. There, they helped bring E Ink for e-book displays, modular smartphones, and many other advanced technology products from the lab to the marketplace. In 2020, NK Labs was awarded a $2M grant from the US Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E) to research high-yield muon-catalyzed fusion, followed by another $0.5M grant in 2023 to develop an efficient muon source. This work led to the founding of Acceleron Fusion in 2023. The company has been working with leading physicists at the Paul Scherrer Institute, Fermilab, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Torion Plasma, and several universities.
"We are thrilled to have the support of Lowercarbon Capital and Collaborative Fund, whose deep experience in the fusion space makes them ideal partners as we push the boundaries of what's possible with muon-catalyzed fusion," said Ara Knaian, CEO and Co-Founder of Acceleron Fusion. "This investment will allow us to accelerate our R&D, grow our team, and bring us closer to demonstrating a viable commercial prototype."
Lowercarbon Capital is a multibillion-dollar venture fund that backs companies that make real money while slashing CO₂ emissions, sucking carbon out of the sky, and buying us time to unf**k the planet. Helping chaos-proof the globe by advancing new forms of energy generation has been a critical priority for the fund since its inception. To that end, in early 2022, Lowercarbon launched Q>1, a $250 million fund dedicated to supporting the world's most promising fusion companies. Acceleron is backed by the Q>1 fund.
"Acceleron is paving a path to plasma-free, sub-1000-degree fusion. It's cooler, cheaper, higher-energy gain fusion that stands to turn the industry on its head," said Dr. Clea Kolster, Partner and Head of Science at Lowercarbon Capital.
Collaborative Fund's expertise in backing disruptive energy companies, including Commonwealth Fusion Systems and Radiant Nuclear, led the firm to recognize Acceleron Fusion as a promising leader in the race to develop commercially viable muon-catalyzed fusion technology. "Muon-catalyzed fusion could redefine clean energy by creating an abundant, sustainable power source," said Sophie Bakalar, Partner at Collaborative Fund. "Acceleron's technical approach, coupled with a brilliant team of commercial-ready innovators, positions them at the forefront of fusion energy's commercial viability."
As energy demand surges with the unprecedented compute requirements of AI and electrical power needs of new domestic manufacturing, the need for clean, scalable energy solutions has never been more urgent. Muon-catalyzed fusion has the potential to solve this challenge, and open the door for fusion power plants that are smaller, and capable of operating at a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) estimated at $0.025/kWh—significantly cheaper than natural gas.
With this capital infusion, Acceleron Fusion is well-positioned to refine its technology, expand its research, and take the first steps toward demonstration of an economical fusion power plant. By partnering with the energy and scientific communities, the company aims to make fusion a practical, game-changing energy solution.
About Acceleron Fusion
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Acceleron Fusion is a pioneer in muon-catalyzed fusion technology. The company spun out of NK Labs in 2023 after it was awarded two ARPA-E grants to research muon-catalyzed fusion and develop a more efficient muon source. Since then the company has raised $24M total funding from investors including Lowercarbon Capital, Collaborative Fund, Sergey Gorbunov, Waikit Lau, Ravikant Capital, Georgios Vlachos, Malcom Handley, AE Blue Capital, Matt Sweeney, Rajeev Surati, and Andrew Volpe.
Media Contact
Elizabeth Byington, Acceleron Fusion, Inc., 1 631-294-3672, [email protected], https://www.acceleron.energy
SOURCE Acceleron Fusion, Inc.
Share this article