Ignition Research sat down with Dr. Greg Van Dyk, CEO of Altrusion, to discuss the company, the future of fusion energy development, and the importance of the supply chain in commercializing fusion energy.

A nuclear engineer and retired Colonel from the U.S. Air Force (USAF), Greg has a long history with fusion energy. In his previous role with the USAF, Greg worked on a variety of fusion and national security topics with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) leading two multi-billion-dollar programs and the chief scientist of a $140 billion program. He also led a $200 million per year program in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and worked closely with the United Kingdom (UK) Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). Today, Greg’s focus is reshoring key capabilities back to the US and allied nations.

1. Tell us about the origin of Altrusion?

Altrusion has initially focused on helping fusion companies connect with the relevant parts of the US DoE and DoD (fission, fusion, pulsed power equipment, HTS, etc.) Altrusion is
working to establish a fusion supply chain with manufacturing in the US and allied nations, especially for products with multiple industrial uses. The result would be a more secure supply chain for national security and energy technologies such as fusion and fission.

2. What is Altrusion’s approach to investing in fusion?

Altrusion’s approach is different than most fusion related companies. While we are evaluating some greenfield builds relevant for venture capital (VC) investments, we mostly focus on creative debt financing either with debt funds or traditional bank financing which can be used to acquire profitable companies. Our focus is on areas in fusion that are not being adequately funded, primarily in supply chain companies where there are other industry demands, and secondary technology and product opportunities.

3. What makes your approach unique in the market?

Altrusion is focused on two areas: i) creating supply chains for critical energy production approaches such as fusion and fission energy; and ii) ensuring a secure supply chain in the U.S. or allied nations. We recognize the challenges of creating supply chains for new market segments such as fusion, and the need for near-term profitability until the fusion market materializes in the long term. Our early focus is looking at opportunities in precision machining, magnetics, pulsed power, and high-power products.

4. Who are your target investments?

For acquisitions, we target companies with a great product that could increase sales in multiple industries but may need additional capital or expertise. Sometimes these companies come in the form of distressed assets but other times we see founder led companies at an inflection point. We look to position the company for long term growth delivering quality products while rewarding our hardworking employees.

5. What are your challenges to building up the fusion supply chain?

There is a disconnect between fusion companies (build capabilities fast with high risk), and profitable supply chain companies with risk-averse owners and lenders. We aim to create the world’s largest fusion supply chain company by scaling businesses through risk-informed growth strategies and using that expertise to develop large greenfield designs for a broader market.

6. When will fusion start powering the grid?

We see the leftmost boundary to when fusion will start to power the grid as Helion’s agreement with Microsoft (2028), and the rightmost boundary as the UKAEA’s STEP program (2040). That places the midline in the early to mid-2030s. The biggest unknowns are the approval timelines of bringing new power onto the grid, and the systems outside the machine vacuum vessel such as heat extraction and tritium breeding. From our perspective, the biggest competitor to fusion is fission, which faces the challenges of nuclear waste disposal, perceived safety, and delivering a system with a low enough cost and reasonable timeline to both be investable and address the growing energy demand.

7. Which country will be first to fusion?

We believe the US would be first, but our partners are making tremendous advancements. However, China has dramatically increased funding and has quickly surpassed the US’ public support. We must win at this race! The future of the world and geopolitics depends on it. We also expect a very challenging global market in 2025/2026 for real estate, equities, and debt along with a large decrease in public spending particularly in the US, which will negatively impact fusion research (ITER, etc.). Fusion companies will need to make it through the next 2-3 years, until the next big successful announcement from a fusion company brings new investments.

8. What else would you like people to know about your company?

We are interested in talking with any owners looking to transition ownership and wanting assurance that their product, company, and employees are in great hands!