# Helion Energy **Source:** https://geo.sig.ai/brands/helion-energy **Vertical:** Climate & Energy **Subcategory:** Fusion Energy **Tier:** Leader **Website:** helionenergy.com **Last Updated:** 2026-04-14 ## Summary Helion Energy is a leading private nuclear fusion company pursuing the world's first commercial fusion power plant, with a power purchase agreement with Microsoft for 2028 delivery. HQ: Everett, WA. ## Company Overview Helion Energy is a fusion energy company working to develop the first commercially viable nuclear fusion power plant. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Everett, Washington, Helion has pioneered a unique approach to fusion: instead of using deuterium-tritium (D-T) fuel like most fusion programs, Helion uses deuterium-helium-3 (D-He3) fuel with a proprietary field-reversed configuration (FRC) reactor design that simultaneously generates electricity directly through electromagnetic induction — potentially skipping the turbine step that adds complexity to other fusion approaches. Helion has raised over $2.2 billion in funding, including a $500 million investment from Sam Altman (who is also CEO of OpenAI), making it the world's most well-funded private fusion company. In 2023, Microsoft signed a power purchase agreement to buy electricity from Helion starting in 2028 — the first commercial fusion power contract in history — signaling both Microsoft's commitment to carbon-free energy for its AI data centers and Helion's confidence in its timeline. The company has operated six prototype machines with its seventh (Polaris) designed to demonstrate net energy gain from fusion. Achieving commercial fusion would be transformational: fusion produces no carbon emissions, the fuel (deuterium from seawater, helium-3 from fusion itself) is essentially inexhaustible, and it generates far more energy per kilogram of fuel than any other reaction. While fusion timelines have historically been optimistic, Helion's direct electricity generation approach and recent capital raises suggest meaningful technical progress. Success would address climate change and energy scarcity simultaneously. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Helion Energy working on? Helion is building commercial nuclear fusion reactors using a proprietary field-reversed configuration approach with deuterium-helium-3 fuel, designed to generate electricity directly from fusion without steam turbines. It aims to have its first commercial reactor operational by 2028. ### What is the Microsoft power purchase agreement? In 2023 Microsoft signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) to purchase fusion electricity from Helion starting in 2028 — the world's first commercial fusion PPA. This landmark deal signals both Microsoft's clean energy ambitions and Helion's confidence in its timeline. ### Who has funded Helion? Helion has raised $2.2B+ from investors including Sam Altman (largest individual investor and board chair), Dustin Moskovitz, Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, and institutional investors. Sam Altman's $500M personal investment reflects his conviction in fusion as transformational clean energy. ### How is Helion different from other fusion approaches? Most fusion programs (ITER, NIF) use deuterium-tritium fuel and generate electricity through steam turbines. Helion uses D-He3 fuel and its FRC design induces electricity directly through changing magnetic fields — a simpler path to electricity generation that could be cheaper and more scalable. ### What is field-reversed configuration (FRC) fusion? FRC is a plasma confinement approach where the plasma is confined by its own magnetic field without a strong external toroidal field coil, producing a compact, elongated plasma that can be compressed to fusion conditions. Helion's proprietary approach accelerates two FRC plasma rings toward each other, merging and compressing them to achieve fusion temperatures. ### Why does Helion use deuterium-helium-3 instead of deuterium-tritium? D-He3 fusion produces far fewer high-energy neutrons than D-T fusion. Neutrons are difficult to capture and cause material activation (making structures radioactive). D-He3 produces primarily charged particles (protons and helium-4) that interact with Helion's magnetic fields directly, enabling direct electricity recovery without steam cycles and reducing radioactive waste. ### How will Helion produce helium-3 fuel? Helium-3 is extremely rare on Earth. Helion's approach involves breeding He3 from deuterium-deuterium reactions in its plasma — its reactors will produce He3 as a byproduct of a D-D reaction phase, which is then used as fuel in the main D-He3 fusion stage. This self-sufficiency is critical to Helion's commercial viability. ### What is Helion's direct electricity generation approach? Rather than using fusion heat to drive a conventional steam turbine, Helion's plasma compression and expansion cycle directly induces an electrical current in surrounding coils — similar to how a generator works, but using the plasma's magnetic field. This direct conversion approach could be significantly more efficient than thermal power cycles. ## Tags energy, startup, b2b --- *Data from geo.sig.ai Brand Intelligence Database. Updated 2026-04-14.*