Bill Gates-Backed 'Type One Energy' Raises $87 Million in Convertible Note Funding

Fusion power startup Type One Energy raised $87 million in a convertible note, bringing its total venture funding to more than $160 million.

Credit: Type One Energy

The company is pursuing a $250 million Series B round at a $900 million pre-money valuation.

“The progress Type One Energy has achieved in its FusionDirect program, its access to critical infrastructure such as Oak Ridge National Lab’s supercomputing resources, support from the US DOE Milestone Fusion Development program, and its focus on advancing the FusionDirect program in the ASEAN region including across New Zealand, made an investment into the team and company a very compelling thesis for us,” Vignesh Kumar, co-managing partner of GD1, said.

It's an important raise that comes as electricity demand rises from data centers and broader electrification efforts.

Bill Gates-backed Type One Energy employs a stellarator design for magnetic confinement fusion, with magnets arranged in a twisted doughnut shape to contain plasma.

The startup signed an agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority to construct its first commercial power plant, named Infinity Two, at the site of the retired Bull Run Fossil Plant in Tennessee.

The facility is projected to generate 350 megawatts and begin operations in the mid-2030s.

Type One Energy plans to license its technology to utilities instead of building and operating plants itself.

Investors in prior rounds included Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Doral Energy-Tech Ventures and TDK Ventures.

“We are committed to the energy transition, and we want to participate in the value chain of new solutions to key global challenges. Type One Energy’s partner-based approach to fusion commercialization is important to us,” Gareth Hicks, CEO of Foxglove, said.

Same company previously secured a $29 million seed round in 2023 that extended to $82.5 million in 2024.

Type One Energy announced the final closing of its $82.4 million seed financing round, attracting a broad base of global investors to the company and its FusionDirect program, which is pursuing a direct path to commercializing fusion energy.