Bill Gates-backed Type One Energy raised $87M over $250M Series B

Start the fusion power Type One Energy recently raised $87 million, TechCrunch has learned from sources familiar with the deal.

The new funding is a convertible note that brings the total equity investment in the startup to more than $160 million. Type One is also in the midst of raising a $250 million Series B at a pre-money valuation of $900 million, according to sources and later confirmed by the company.

Like other energy startups, Type One is benefiting from increased demand from data centers and the electrification of the wider economy. The data center is expected to be used almost three times more electricity by 2035, when overall electricity demand is expected to grow by 4% per annum through next year.

Fusion power can deliver gigawatts worth of clean power almost without limit. Reactors work by fusing atoms together, which release enormous amounts of heat and energy in the process. Power plants generate heat to spin turbines, similar to fossil fuel facilities today, but without the pollution.

Unlike fission, fusion reactors do not produce large amounts of radioactive waste. They also do not pose a catastrophic risk.

There are two main approaches to fusion power: magnetic confinement and inertial confinement. In the beginning, the magnet compresses and controls the plasma, superheated particles that eventually fuse into new atoms. Finally, the fuel pellets are compressed to fuse, most often using a laser.

Type One will use magnetic confinement, and the design is called a stellarator. In the stellarator, the magnets are arranged in a twisted donut-like shape and are turned on according to the demand of the plasma. Previously built stellarators have been able to control plasma for a long time, although none have yet been built with the intention of generating power.

Last year, Type One signed an agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority to put the first commercial power plant on the site of the former Bull Run Fossil Plant, a coal-fired power plant that will retire in 2023. Infinity Two, as the power plant, is expected to produce 350 megawatts of electricity and be online by the mid-2030s, the company said.

Unlike many other startups, Type One does not plan to build its own power plants or reactors and sell the power. Instead, the company will sell key technology to TVA and its electric utility, which will build, own, and operate the plant.

Type One before rising a $29 million seed round in 2023 which is added to a total of $82.5 million in 2024. Investors in the round include Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Doral Energy Tech Ventures, and TDK Ventures.