Fusion Startup Helion Secures Fresh Funding To Build Advanced Semiconductors

Fusion startup Helion has received $175 million in federal funding to research, develop, and manufacture advanced semiconductors and power electronics. The three-year award comes from the Department of Commerce under the CHIPS Act. Alongside the federal funding, Helion also announced a fresh $50 million private investment from an undisclosed investor, bringing its total funds raised to more than $3.2 billion.

Production And Power

The new production line will be built in Washington State to supply power electronics for Helion's fusion power plants. Current devices lose about five to ten percent of the electricity that flows through them. Helion co-founder and CEO David Kirtley stated that cutting that loss in half would double the power output of the fusion system. The new facility will be the first in the U.S. to make this class of high-voltage semiconductors, which are used in fusion, manufacturing, wastewater treatment, medicine, and defense.

Technology

Helion is currently building its first power plant, named Orion, to meet a 2028 deadline to provide Microsoft with electricity from the grid. Kirtley noted that the R&D from the award will not make its way into Orion in time for its launch due to federal contract timelines, but will improve the efficiency of subsequent power plants. Helion uses a direct energy conversion approach, capturing energy directly from fusion reactions using magnets and capacitors rather than spinning a steam turbine.

Context

The CHIPS Act is a federal law aimed at boosting domestic semiconductor research and manufacturing in the United States. Advanced power electronics are increasingly vital not just for clean energy generation, but also for electric vehicles, grid transmission, and modern defense applications.