Shanghai Honghu Future Energy raises billions for stellarator fusion reactor by 2028

Shanghai Honghu Future Energy has completed a funding round worth hundreds of millions of RMB, with proceeds earmarked for the research, development, and construction of its "Honghu Zhiyuan No. 1" project, team expansion, and company operations. According to the timeline released by the company, "Honghu Zhiyuan No. 1" is scheduled for completion by 2028, with the goal of becoming one of the world's first high-temperature superconducting stellarator experimental devices.

Investors and Participants

The funding round was joined by several prominent institutions, including:

• Shanghai Future Industry Fund
• Social Security Fund Zhongguancun Independent Innovation Special Fund (managed by Junlian Capital)
• Guanghe Venture Capital
• SJTU Parent Fund
• Detong Capital

Dai Lizhong, an early investor in Shanghai Honghu Future Energy and the actual controller of Sansure Biotech (688289), also made an additional investment.

Company Background and Technology

Honghu Future Energy is a developer of stellarator-based nuclear fusion energy technology. In collaboration with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the company has established the "Shanghai Jiao Tong University–Honghu" Joint Laboratory. Through this university-industry partnership, Honghu Future Energy is advancing the "Honghu Zhiyuan No. 1" optimized stellarator, aiming to achieve a closed loop from design and key components to full-system validation, and to deliver internationally competitive stellarator engineering outcomes.

Challenges and Advantages of the Stellarator Route

As one of the pathways to nuclear fusion energy, the stellarator approach has historically faced limitations in R&D efficiency and commercial attention. It is widely recognized for inherent advantages such as:

• Natural steady-state continuous power generation
• High energy efficiency
• No risk of major disruptions

However, the technology also presents extremely high engineering barriers, particularly in the design of high-performance configurations under complex 3D magnetic fields, the manufacturing of superconducting coils, and the precision assembly of the entire device.

Global Trends in Stellarator Development

Notably, global funding for stellarator-based enterprises has been heating up this year:

• In Europe, Proxima Fusion, the entity behind Germany's W7-X stellarator, secured €411 million in investment from backers including Google and German energy company RWE.
• In the United States, companies such as Thea Energy and Type One Energy each completed funding rounds of approximately $100 million.

"Stellarators are gaining attention from global tech giants and venture capital firms," said Junlian Capital. The firm noted that the rising interest stems not only from key milestones achieved in the past year but also from efficiency gains in design enabled by "AI + simulation" and the rapid iteration of the magnetic confinement fusion upstream supply chain.

Detong Capital added that breakthroughs in theoretical research and computational modeling, along with the increasing maturity of new technologies such as AI and 3D printing, have significantly accelerated stellarator R&D in recent years.

Future Roadmap

According to the timeline provided by Honghu Future Energy, the company will collaborate with Shanghai Jiao Tong University on the R&D and construction of "Honghu Zhiyuan No. 1," targeting completion by 2028. The device aims to become one of the world's first high-temperature superconducting stellarator experimental devices.

Looking further ahead, the company plans to complete validation of a Generation III demonstration reactor by the 2030s, achieving power generation demonstration capability and conducting verification of plant-level operation, maintenance, and economic models.