Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) announced that Hyundai Motor Group became an investor in its recent $1 billion fundraising round.

This investment sparks a new partnership between the two companies, which want to work together on future ARC power plants.

CFS currently has two plants in the works: the SPARC fusion demonstration machine in Massachusetts and what could be the world’s first grid-scale ARC fusion power plant in Virginia.

A Growing Team

Hyundai joins a large group of investors from the Asia-Pacific region, including Woori Venture Partners in Korea, a Japanese group led by MITSUI & CO. and Mitsubishi Corporation, Temasek of Singapore, and the Hostplus Superannuation Fund in Australia.

The $1 billion raised recently is the largest funding round for any fusion company since CFS’s Series B in 2021. CFS has now raised $4 billion, which is about 30% of all the money raised in the entire fusion industry.

Hyundai and CFS also plan to support fusion energy in Korea, matching the country’s initiative for new technologies.

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The Future of Fusion

A rendering of CFS’ nuclear fusion plant; Photo: CFS

According to CFS, it wants to supply fusion power to the grid by the early 2030s. The company already applied to PJM Interconnection, the largest wholesale electricity market in the US. Additionally, it has partnerships with Dominion Energy, and investors like Google and Eni already agreed to buy more than half the power the plant will produce.

“As we prepare to put fusion energy on the grid in the early 2030s, we see partnerships with leading industrial and energy companies like Hyundai as an important component to helping us scale our ARC power plant business,” said Bob Mumgaard, CEO and Co-founder of CFS. “We look forward to exploring collaboration opportunities with Hyundai given their expertise and track record of building power plants in Korea and around the world.”

Hokeun Chung, Executive Vice President of Hyundai Motor Group, agreed.

“Fusion energy has the potential to play an important role in addressing growing global energy demand while supporting a more sustainable future,” said Chung. “CFS has demonstrated strong technical progress toward commercial fusion energy, and we look forward to exploring opportunities to contribute our industrial, engineering and infrastructure expertise as the industry advances.”