Company nets largest VC fusion fund raise so far in 2026, becomes number two in fusion total private capital raised to date.
At The Fusion Report, press releases about successful funding raises are kind of a mixed bag. There are very few new companies that enter the game (Inertia is a notable exception, with a $450M raise earlier this year), and most of the excitement ends up being around either fusion’s total funding so far this year, or where the various companies have stacked up in the mix. Helion Energy‘s raise this week is no different, other than the size of the total raise, the largest so far this year at $465M, is notable: it’s definitely a big check for the Washington state company!
The new Series G round places Helion’s total venture capital (VC) funding raised to date to slightly over $1.5B. It also becomes the seventh largest single fundraising round so far in fusion energy, after:
- Commonwealth Fusion System’s (CFS) $1.8 billion Series B round in 2021
- CFS’s $863 million Series B2 round in 2025
- Pacific Fusion’s $900 million Series A round in 2024
- TAE’s $600M Series G-3 round in 2023
- Helion’s own $500M Series E raise in 2021, and
- TAE’s $500M Series E raise in 2016.
Helion has now raised the second largest lifetime amount of private fundraising of all fusion companies, though it is only slightly larger than half of that raised by CFS (almost $3B lifetime). In total, the industry has raised over $11.4B across its 24 largest companies developing commercial fusion machines (i.e., not including supply chain companies) with total lifetime funding of at least $25M. As impressive as that might sound, it is roughly the same amount that has been spent so far on the ITER project alone ($10B-$12B, though the exact expenditures are not easily publicly available). With that, here is the press release from Helion:
Helion Raises $465 Million Series G Funding
Round to Meet Surging Global Demand for Power
Led by Thrive Capital at $15.5 billion post-money valuation, new financing expands U.S. fusion manufacturing capacity, accelerates deployment
EVERETT, Wash. – June 4, 2026 – Helion, a Washington-based fusion energy company, announced a $465 million Series G investment round to accelerate commercial deployment of fusion, scale manufacturing capacity, and expand the company’s ability to deliver clean electricity to customers. This latest round of funding brings the total invested to date in Helion to $1.5 billion and values the company at $15.5 billion post-money.
The raise was led by Thrive Capital, with participation from additional new investors, including Alta Park Capital, Anti Fund, BoxGroup, Lux Capital, Peak XV Partners, and Ford Motor Company Executive Chairman Bill Ford, plus existing investors, including Capricorn Technology Impact Funds, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mithril Capital, Dustin Moskovitz through Good Ventures Foundation, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and a university endowment fund.
“Fusion is no longer a future idea, but a path to clean, reliable, affordable always-on electricity at scale. This funding accelerates our ability to deliver on that promise,” said David Kirtley, CEO of Helion. “This support of new and existing investors is a strong signal they believe, as we do, that Helion is best positioned to generate electricity from fusion for customers this decade, not the next, and that we have the right technology and strategy to build the commercial fusion market over the long term.”
“At Thrive, we aim to invest in category-defining companies,” said Vince Hankes, partner at Thrive Capital. “We believe Helion has the technical ambition, pace of execution, and commercial orientation to define a new category of energy. We are deeply inspired by David and the Helion team’s mission to bring clean, reliable fusion power to the world, and honored to support them for the long arc ahead.”
“Abundant, affordable energy is essential for the future of innovation,” said Ravi Mhatre, co-founder of Lightspeed Venture Partners. “Commercializing fusion will be critical to meeting the world’s growing energy needs and no company is better positioned to do that in the near term than Helion. We are happy to renew our commitment to Helion and participate in this round.”
“Every generation has a small number of companies that expand what the world believes is possible. Helion is one of them,” said Brandon Reeves, partner at Lux Capital. “As power capacity becomes central to AI and industrial competitiveness, Helion is moving fusion from a scientific milestone to commercial reality and building one of the most important companies for America’s energy and AI future.”
The Series G announcement comes on the heels of several industry-first milestones achieved by its 7th-generation Polaris prototype as well as ongoing momentum behind Orion, the company’s first fusion power plant. Polaris became the first privately funded fusion machine to operate with deuterium-tritium fuel and broke the company’s own record for plasma temperatures, exceeding 150 million ºC. Orion is currently under construction in Malaga, WA.
