Yunqi Capital angel-round project "Nova Fusion" has raised a total of 1.2 billion yuan, setting a record for early-stage funding in private-sector fusion energy

Recently, Nova Fusion, a Yunqi Capital seed-round portfolio company, announced the completion of a 700 million RMB angel+ funding round. In just one year since its founding, the company has raised a total of 1.2 billion RMB across its angel round series, setting a new record for early-stage financing among domestic private-sector nuclear fusion companies in China.

As one of the earliest angel-round investors alongside the company, we've observed that against the backdrop of surging AI compute demand, energy is shifting from a "constraint" to a "core variable," with fusion energy poised to become a critical pillar of next-generation infrastructure.

Nova Fusion is China's first high-tech innovation enterprise focused on the R&D and industrialization of compact, distributed controlled nuclear fusion technology (FRC-SMR). We look forward to the company's continued advancement of FRC-SMR technology development and commercial deployment, accelerating the global rollout of distributed fusion energy.

The following is adapted from Nova Fusion

This round was led by continued heavy investment from a top domestic internet giant as an early backer, with new investors including Meituan Longzhu, Hillhouse, Shangqi Capital, Inovance Industrial Investment, and Jiukun Venture Capital joining the cap table.

Nova Fusion is dedicated to the deep integration of advanced fusion technology and artificial intelligence, developing and commercializing FRC small modular reactors to accelerate the global deployment of distributed fusion energy and create a sustainable energy future for humanity. The company upholds the vision of "Fusion for AI & Beyond" — harnessing clean, safe, and limitless fusion energy to power the future of artificial intelligence and intelligent industries.

As a leading enterprise in the field-reversed configuration small modular reactor (FRC-SMR) technology pathway, Nova Fusion is led by Professor Houyang Guo, an internationally renowned fusion scientist and pioneer inventor of FRC-SMR modular technology, and is emerging as China's most promising and globally competitive fusion company.

Fusion + AI: The Direct Coupling of Energy and Compute

A major highlight of this round is the continued doubling-down by a major internet company, alongside the concentrated entry of industrial capital.

The participation of internet companies not only provides financial support for nuclear fusion R&D but also drives the direct integration of fusion energy with AI application scenarios.

In AI data centers, cloud computing facilities, and intelligent industrial parks, stable and scalable energy supply is becoming one of the core infrastructure requirements.

The formation of this diversified investment matrix stems from market recognition of Nova Fusion's three core competitive advantages:

• Cost and efficiency advantages of the FRC-SMR technology pathway
• A world-class R&D team of international experts
• A clear and actionable commercialization roadmap

Technological Origins: Advancing the FRC-SMR Pathway

The global nuclear fusion commercialization effort has entered a critical window. Helion Energy in the US, as the representative enterprise of the FRC technology pathway, has set a record of 150 million degrees Celsius plasma temperature. Its first fusion power plant under construction, "Orion," is planned to supply 50MW of electricity to Microsoft's AI supercomputing center by 2028, with a power purchase agreement of at least 50 megawatts already signed. Meanwhile, OpenAI also plans to procure electricity from Helion at a scale of up to 50 gigawatts. This marks the FRC-SMR technology pathway as a mature route that has reached the eve of commercialization.

Nova Fusion is the only company in China deeply cultivating the FRC-SMR technology pathway. Its founder, Professor Houyang Guo, is precisely the pioneer inventor of FRC-SMR modular technology, with deep expertise in both FRC and tokamak approaches. He previously led China-US magnetic confinement fusion cooperation, served as an expert on the ITER International Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee, and was a member of China's Ministry of Science and Technology magnetic confinement expert group and chief scientist of major fusion programs — reaching world-class standing in the fusion field.

With its unique technological accumulation, Nova Fusion fills the gap in China's FRC-SMR landscape. Leveraging China's complete industrial supply chain, strong engineering and manufacturing capabilities, and the world's largest AI energy demand market, Nova Fusion is achieving the leap from "keeping pace" to "taking the lead," becoming the first to commercialize small distributed fusion power plants domestically.

R&D Acceleration: Sprinting Toward the 100 Million Degree Milestone in 2027

Since its founding, Nova Fusion has consistently upheld the vision of "Fusion for AI & Beyond," building a world-class international R&D team covering the full chain from physics design, device construction, power supply development, to engineering integration.

It is the formidable energy of this top-tier team that has enabled Nova Fusion to achieve breakthroughs from zero to one in multiple core technical areas within just a few months of establishment, encompassing high-power all-solid-state switches, modular strong-field magnet design, large-bore quartz tube manufacturing, and nanosecond-level control and acquisition systems.

Currently, the "Nova-1" validation device has fully entered the engineering construction phase. This funding round further solidifies the company's financial leadership position, injecting strong momentum into fusion energy commercialization. The company's plans include:

• By end of 2026: achieving first plasma discharge;
• By 2027: becoming the first private enterprise in China to reach 100 million degrees fusion temperature, crossing the threshold of nuclear fusion;
• By 2029: achieving DT-equivalent fusion net energy output (Q>1), establishing the scientific and technical foundation for efficiently harnessing fusion energy;
• First half of the 2030s: completing China's first small distributed fusion demonstration power plant, achieving 50-100MW commercial power generation, perfectly matching the 7×24 uninterrupted power demands of AI data centers.

Private Sector Filling the Gap: A New Paradigm for the Fusion Industry

Against the long-standing landscape where China's fusion R&D has been dominated by "national team" institutions, Nova Fusion, as a private-sector benchmark enterprise, has formed a synergistic and complementary relationship with the national team as "cornerstone and vanguard":

The national team focuses on foundational scientific research and basic technology development, targeting large centralized baseload energy after 2040; Nova Fusion, centered on the FRC-SMR pathway, precisely captures the distributed energy gap created by AI compute demand, leveraging technological first-mover advantages, a top international team, and robust capital to iterate rapidly with startup efficiency, becoming the first to fill the strategic void for near-term clean energy demand.

The completion of this funding round is not only an important milestone for Nova Fusion's development but also a significant marker of the rise of Chinese fusion power.

Going forward, Nova Fusion will continue to be guided by the vision of "Fusion for AI & Beyond," accelerating FRC-SMR technology development and commercial deployment, driving the global rollout of distributed fusion energy at lower cost and greater speed, striving to become one of the first companies globally to achieve commercial fusion power generation, and establishing Chinese fusion power at the core of the global nuclear fusion field, injecting sustainable Chinese momentum into the global energy transition.

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