FusionXInvest Insights
We had a great day at the FusionXInvest event that took place in London on May 18th. This was the first in a series of global events designed to bring capital and investment to the fusion energy industry.
Comments we received from participants included: "The best event I've ever attended." "The first event in ages where I haven't skipped any sessions." And "consequential!"
We had fabulous, impactful speakers and that was reflected in the quality of discussions in the room. We're really grateful to have had such a good mix of people in the room.
The FusionXInvest Team
Here are 3 insights we took away from the event.
1 “If you want to be sustainable and wealthy you need fusion.”
Phil Larochelle of Breakthrough Energy told us that currently the world uses 6TW of power. This would need to rise to 20TW for whole world to have same standard of living as the West enjoys. To make this increase without fossil fuels is a huge challenge, one that needs an energy source with huge potential.
2. We need to invent new ways of funding fusion
In Mark White's experience of funding hundreds of startups during his work with the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund, Mark’s found that it’s not usually the technology that fails, it’s the people, team and business model. So governments and financial markets need to find ways to support the development of fusion, which might mean creating new models.
3. Investors in fusion need something equivalent to clinical trials for biotech
This would help them judge the technological progress of fusion company approaches, said Jason Pontin of DCVC. The milestone based public-private partnership being started in the US could perhaps help in this regard, but this style of public-private partnership won’t necessarily be appropriate for all countries.
Of course, there were many more! We hope you can join us next time.