Google DeepMind Alumni Launch Fusionality to Standardize Fusion Control Systems
AI-generated image · US National Wire
The Lausanne-based startup raised $3.7 million to build modular hardware and software for a sector where most firms currently build their own controls from scratch.
Two former Google DeepMind employees are betting that the fusion power industry is wasting resources by reinventing the wheel. As TechCrunch first reported, Federico Felici and Jonas Buchli have launched Fusionality, a Lausanne-based startup aimed at providing the specialized control systems and simulation environments necessary to operate fusion reactors.
According to reporting from TechCrunch, Felici (CEO) and Buchli (CTO) founded the company after observing a recurring gap in the market. Felici told TechCrunch that while fusion companies want to purchase components for their control systems, there are few providers who "speak the language of fusion." He noted that while many companies currently build these systems from scratch, approximately 80% of the requirements are identical across the industry.
Fusionality intends to capitalize on this commonality by developing a suite of modular technologies—which Felici likened to "Lego blocks"—that startups can purchase and then fine-tune for their specific reactor designs. The company is currently focusing on magnetic confinement fusion, a method utilized by startups including Type One Energy, Proxima Fusion, Realta Fusion, and Commonwealth Fusion Systems. Felici stated the company eventually plans to expand into other fusion approaches.
The technical challenge involves managing superheated plasma, which requires split-second decision-making to maintain fuel levels, shape, and temperature. While Felici and Buchli's backgrounds involve using AI to control experimental tokamaks, Felici told TechCrunch that AI is not yet ready to control an entire reactor. Instead, he views AI as a tool to optimize, enhance, or complement specific parts of the system.
To fund these efforts, Founderful and Playfair provided Fusionality with a $3.7 million (CHF 3 million) pre-seed investment. The company currently employs seven people. While Felici declined to specify the exact technologies the funding will develop, he stated the goal is to eventually serve the wide range of technology required to operate a fusion reactor.
Fusionality joins a growing supply chain of fusion-adjacent firms, including Kyoto Fusioneering, which focuses on components to help startups convert engineering breakthroughs into grid electricity.