Fusion Energy’s Funding So Far in 2025

One of the things that we cover in The Fusion Report is the status of fusion funding, particularly private funding. As you all know, we just  completed Q3 2025, and the year so far (at least from funding for fusion) has been interesting to say the least. On the positive side, we have had a number of meaningful funding events in the first nine months of 2025. On the government funding side (excluding the Chinese) the story is more mixed, with the positive events in Europe and Asia counterbalanced by the significant cuts in U.S. government funding (particularly in the Department of Energy). And China continues to put significant funds into fusion energy, including private funding, government funding, and supply chain funding. We will jump into these areas over the next few pages.

Private Funding: Holding Steady/Slightly Up in 2025

After a record high point in 2022 of $2.8B, and a “trough of disillusionment” (to use Gartner’s phrase) in 2023 and 2024 ($900M and slightly over $1.1B, respectively), it looks like 2025 could exceed $2B in private funding (excluding China). Through the end of Q3 2025, fusion energy private funding (excluding China) has amounted to nearly $1.7B; if funding continues on a straight line, 2025 should reach over $2.2B. Let’s look at some of the big deals so far in 2025, and what the last three months of the year might hold for private fusion funding.

And The Biggest Funding Round in 2025 Goes to CFS: In August 2025, Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) raised $863M in a Series B2 round, increasing the amount the company has raised to nearly $3B (CFS’s biggest round was in 2021 for $1.8B). The funding will be used to complete the SPARC demonstrator fusion machine, and to fund development work on the ARC power plant in Virgina.

In Second Place, Helion Energy: Like CFS, Helion Energy had significant fundraising efforts in 2025, announcing a $425M Series F in January. The round, which raised Helion’s total private funding to slightly over $1B, will be used to complete the testing of their 7th generation Polaris fusion machine, and to fund the commercial fusion plant being built in Malaga, WA to provide electricity to Microsoft.

In Third Place: TAE and Proxima Fusion Tied at $150M Each: Both TAE and Proxima have received roughly $150M in private funding in June 2025. This raised the total amount of funding raised by TAE to $1.3B, and Proxima to $200M. Both will be used to move forward their fusion energy developments forward; in particular Proxima’s will be used to start funding their first stellarator-based fusion power plant, which is targeting being online in the 2030s.

Other Notable Mentions (This is NOT a Comprehensive List): Several other companies have also raised money in 2025, including:

• Realta Fusion: The company raised a $36M Series A round in May 2025. The funds will be utilized to validate their theoretical and modeling results in real-world experimentation.
• General Fusion: The company raised $22M in August of 2025, for a total raise of $469M to date. The company, which had a significant reduction in force in May 2025, is using the money to reach their next demonstration/scientific milestone.
• Helical Fusion: Helical raised $15M in July 2025, raising their total funding to $35M.

Government Funding: Better Results Outside of the U.S.

In this arena the U.S. Federal Government, which used to be the largest funder outside of China, has fallen behind significantly other countries. In fiscal year (FY) 2024, the U.S. government allocated a total of $1.48B for fusion energy research and development. By comparison, FY-2025 saw this amount under the Trump Administration dwindle to $134M; $128M for the FIRES collaboratives and $6.1M for the INFUSE program. While these funding levels may be logical from the perspective that most companies today are commercializing fusion energy rather than doing basic research, it is definitely a “hit” to the U.S. fusion companies that have depended on these funds over the past decade.

In comparison the picture in Europe, and in particular in the UK, has taken the lead for government fusion funding (outside of China). To that point, the UK government in June 2025 committed £2.5B ($3.37B U.S.) for fusion energy funding over the next five (5) years. The primary recipient for these funds will be the UK STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) program in West Burton, Nottinghamshire, at the site of a former coal-fired power plant. The goal is to deliver a prototype fusion power plant by 2040. The STEP program will choose various fusion firms, universities, construction companies, and other various suppliers to build the STEP power plant. Both Japan and Germany are also pursuing fusion energy, with Japan putting in ¥10B (roughly $67M U.S.) to support its various fusion research institutions, and Germany putting in over €2 billion (roughly $2.34B U.S.) by 2029 to support research and pilot projects.

Which Leads Us to China…

But by far, China is the most ambitious country today when it comes to fusion. The Chinese have a goal be the world powerhouse (pun intended) in fusion energy. This would mirror their strategy in renewable energy (they currently dominate PV solar energy and wind turbine manufacture) and rechargeable batteries for EVs and energy storage (China manufactures between 70% and 90% of EV batteries, depending on which part of the supply chain you measure). Given the nearly four decade of Western (and particularly U.S.) outsourcing to China, it is not surprising that they have become very proficient at all matters related to supply chains, manufacturing, and logistics.

 It is believed by many that China is now the de facto leader in public funding for fusion energy development and commercialization. Consider the following points:

• Government Funding: The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) believes that the Chinese Government is putting in as much as $3B (U.S.) a year into fusion development, over 2X what the U.S. put in during FY-2024, and well over 20X what the U.S. put in this year.
• Pace of Construction: China has several sites under construction for fusion, including both tokamaks and inertial fusion sites.
• Professional Workforce: China plans on graduating over 10,000 PhDs in fusion energy and related fields, far more than any other
• Intellectual Property: Today, China holds more fusion energy patents than any other country.
• Private Funding: While private funding in China is (in general) somewhat opaque, it is believed that the total amount probably is in the range of $5B U.S..

With these factors in mind, one could consider the race for fusion becoming neck-and-neck, with the Chinese poised to take the lead (at least from a funding standpoint), increasing the importance of deals for electricity from these plants (at least in the U.S.), as these will act as motivators for the private sector to keep on investing.