Japanese nuclear fusion startup Helical Fusion has secured approximately 2.7 billion yen (around $17 million) in the first close of its Series B funding round. The announcement was made on 28 April.
The company was founded in 2021 by Takaya Taguchi, CEO, a veteran of financial institutions including Mizuho Bank and PwC Advisory, alongside Junichi Miyazawa, CTO, and Takuya Goto, Vice CTO, both from the National Institute for Fusion Science.
Targeting commercial power generation in the 2030s
Demand for clean power generation is rising alongside a construction boom in data centres that is driving electricity consumption ever higher. Fusion energy is increasingly seen as one solution to both pressures.
Fusion produces no high-level radioactive waste, and any intermediate- or low-level waste it generates decays to safe levels far more quickly than the waste produced by conventional nuclear fission. It also emits no carbon dioxide directly.
Three reactor designs are currently under active development: the tokamak, the helical stellarator, and laser-based inertial confinement. True to its name, Helical Fusion is developing a helical stellarator.
In 2025, the company established the Helix Program, its roadmap to achieve commercially viable fusion power—defined as year-round operation generating sufficient electricity output—in the 2030s. The plan calls for bringing the large-scale integrated demonstration device Helix HARUKA online around 2030, followed by the commercial plant Helix KANATA later in the same decade.
The company also runs a partnering project for companies wishing to advance the Helix Program alongside Helical Fusion. At a related event held in July 2025, investors including Toyoda Gosei took the stage.
“Pioneering a challenge ahead of the world,” says CEO
Investors in the Series B first close include Konoike Transport, a logistics company, and Mitani Sangyo, a trading house based in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, among others.
The proceeds are expected to be used to advance the Helix Program described above.
Taguchi, CEO of Helical Fusion, commented: “We will live up to the expectations of our investors and partner companies, and together with everyone, we will pioneer a challenge ahead of the world. We look forward to welcoming further participation.”
