Nuclear fusion-driven technology firm Energy Singularity has snagged 400 million yuan ($57.8 million) in a pre-Series A round. miHoYo, the Shanghai-based video game developer behind Genshin Impact, was one of the investors.
Yunhe Partners, an investment management firm that focuses on firms that help achieve a zero-carbon future, also joined the round, together with Enlightenment and Heimen Equity Fund, according to a company release.
Nuclear fusion is the process when two light atomic nuclei combine to form a single heavier one while releasing massive amounts of energy, according to United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, The International Atomic Energy Agency. Scientists have been on a quest to commercialise the energy in the hope that this environment-friendly energy source can battle climate change.
The round, which enables the firm to ramp up its R&D, has brought its total raised capital to 800 million yuan ($115.6 million). Previously, the firm bagged nearly 400 million yuan ($63 million) in its maiden round in February 2022, led by NIO Capital and miHoYo. Sequoia Capital China and BlueRun Ventures also joined the debut round.
Founded in 2021, the Shanghai-based firm has been devoting its time in developing a tokamak — a donut-shaped magnetic device that confines a plasma — driven by high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets, ever since its debut round in 2022, per the firm. It said that its tokamak will start to operate by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, the firm is commencing R&D for the next-generation HTS magnets that could set the foundation for the commercialisation of fusion power, the firm said in the release.