Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast
Sifted brings you monthly long-form interviews with the biggest names in European startups. We hear from the founders, operators and investors behind the continent's biggest tech companies to learn what makes them tick and what they've learnt while building their businesses.
Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast
Replacing fossil fuels: Proxima Fusion’s Francesco Sciortino on his mission to revolutionise clean energy
On 2024's last episode of the Sifted Podcast, Amy is joined by an entrepreneur on a very big mission. Munich-based startup Proxima Fusion is developing a nuclear fusion reactor — a technology which many hope could help solve the climate crisis by producing clean, cheap and abundant energy that could replace a lot of fossil fuel power.
But the technical challenges are considerable.
Nuclear fusion reactors need to remain stable at incredibly high temperatures, while confining volatile plasma with powerful and sensitive magnets. Proxima Fusion is targeting raising a billion euros to build its technology, with support from European governments and international investors.
The company’s founder Francesco Sciortino sat down to discuss how his team plans to change the world with its technology, the milestones it needs to hit, by when, and to reflect on the challenges of scaling up ambitious hardware-based deeptech companies from Europe.