Jeff Bezos. Image: George W Bush Centre/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Through his investment fund, Bezos Expeditions, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has backed Vancouver’s General Fusion once again.
Billionaire Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has backed Canadian start-up General Fusion, a business that is aiming to develop a fusion power device based on magnetised target fusion (MTF).
General Fusion made the announcement earlier this week (16 December), and while Bezos was an investor in the funding round through Bezos Expeditions, the $65m Series E was led by Singapore’s Temasek.
Other investors in the Series E round include the DLF Group, Gimv, I2BF Global Ventures, Disruptive Technology Advisers and Hatch, as well as several individual investors.
Further investment
Vancouver-headquartered General Fusion also announced that it has secured $38m in funding from Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund.
Both funding boosts will enable the nuclear fusion business to formally launch its programme to design, construct and subsequently operate its first fusion demonstration plant, it said.
“This prototype facility is intended to confirm the performance of General Fusion’s magnetised target fusion technology in a power plant relevant environment,” the company added. “Pursuit of this next important step toward commercially viable fusion reflects the growing global collaboration between public and private stakeholders in this transformative technology.”
To date, General Fusion has raised more than $200m. The company was established in 2002 and Bezos was an early investor in the business.
Pivoting to fusion
General Fusion CEO Christofer Mowry said: “The world is pivoting toward fusion as the necessary complement to other technologies which, collectively, will enable the carbon-free energy future we all need.
“The success of our financing is further evidence that the global stakeholders in this endeavour are leaning into this challenge with action. We are proud and honoured that Temasek and other investors have demonstrated their confidence in General Fusion with this funding.”
Outside of its Vancouver HQ, General Fusion has operations in Washington, DC, and London.
Jeff Bezos. Image: George W Bush Presidential Center/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
