General Fusion Goes Public in $1B Deal to Fund Fusion Push

General Fusion, a Vancouver-based company working on nuclear fusion power, announced on Thursday it will go public through a $1 billion reverse merger with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III. The deal aims to raise over $300 million to support its fusion projects as the company faces growing electricity needs around the world.

Background

General Fusion started in 2002 with a goal to create a practical way to produce fusion energy. Fusion works by smashing atoms together to release huge amounts of power, like what happens in the sun. The company uses a method called Magnetized Target Fusion, or MTF. This approach mixes plasma with spinning liquid metal and uses mechanical hammers to compress it, aiming to spark fusion reactions without needing giant lasers or super magnets.

The firm has spent over 20 years on research. It has built 24 prototypes and run more than 200,000 plasma tests. One big step came in 2016 with the world's largest plasma injector. In 2021, General Fusion said it would build a demonstration plant near London, England. Construction was set to start in 2022 and finish by 2025.

Last year, in early 2025, the company turned on its Lawson Machine 26, or LM26. This is the first large-scale MTF machine. It compresses plasma using a lithium liner at half the size needed for a full commercial plant. The machine is already running and working toward hitting temperatures of 10 million degrees Celsius and then 100 million degrees Celsius. The final target is the Lawson criterion, which means producing more energy from fusion than it takes to start the reaction.

General Fusion has raised more than $325 million from investors over the years. Early backers include Jeff Bezos through his family office. Other funds come from groups like Temasek, GIC, and BDC. The company calls itself a world leader in fusion, with 210 patents and peer-reviewed results. It is one of just four private firms to publish real fusion data.

The company runs a 100,000-square-foot facility in Richmond, British Columbia. It also has offices in the US and UK. Founder Michel Laberge came up with the idea after years working on lasers. He started tinkering in a garage before building a team of top scientists.

Fusion has been a tough field. Big projects like the US National Ignition Facility use massive lasers but cost billions and run years behind. Europe's ITER project faces delays and overruns. Startups like General Fusion bet on simpler machines to get to market faster.

Key Details

The merger partner, Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III, or SVAC, is a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. These firms raise money to buy or merge with private companies to take them public. SVAC's leaders have experience in energy deals. Chairman Chris Sorrells has worked in energy for over 30 years. His team took NuScale Power public, the first company focused on small nuclear reactors. They also have a deal pending with a uranium miner.

The business combination values General Fusion at $1 billion. It will bring in over $300 million in new cash, mostly from private investors in SVAC. General Fusion plans to use the money to fully fund LM26 and hit its milestones. The deal has approval from both companies' boards. It needs shareholder votes and regulatory okay. Closing is expected in mid-2026. After that, the new public company will list on Nasdaq under the name General Fusion.

Company Milestones and Tech

LM26 is key to the plan. It is already compressing plasma mechanically. The goal is net energy gain, proving MTF can work at scale. Fusion promises big advantages: four times more energy per fuel unit than nuclear fission, and millions of times more than coal or oil. It makes little waste, uses cheap fuels like hydrogen, and faces fewer rules than other power sources.

General Fusion's setup absorbs heat from reactions into liquid metal, then turns it into steam for turbines. This avoids some problems other fusion methods have.

"General Fusion has a 20-year track record of creating and advancing the fusion technologies that we believe will address one of humanity's biggest challenges: meeting the urgent and growing demand for energy while delivering clean, sustainable, reliable baseload power," Greg Twinney, CEO of General Fusion, said.

The company faced fundraising issues last year, making it hard to get cash from investors. This public move comes at a time when power demand is rising fast, driven by data centers, electric cars, and industry.

What This Means

Going public puts General Fusion ahead of other fusion startups. It will be the first pure-play fusion company on a major stock exchange. This gives it access to public markets for more funding as it builds toward power plants in the next decade.

The cash will help de-risk the technology. Hitting LM26 goals could draw more partners and customers. Governments and utilities want clean baseload power that runs all the time, unlike solar or wind. Fusion could fill that gap without carbon emissions.

Investors see fusion moving from lab dreams to real business. With electricity needs surging, companies like this aim to deliver plants that produce cheap, endless power. Success with LM26 would show MTF's path to factories making fusion machines.

Other fusion firms watch closely. General Fusion's mechanical approach might prove cheaper to scale than laser or magnetic rivals. A public listing lets everyday investors bet on the race to fusion power.

The deal also highlights SPACs' role in energy tech. Spring Valley's track record with nuclear firms suggests they know the risks. If completed, General Fusion joins a small club of publicly traded advanced energy plays.

Fusion still has hurdles. No one has a full commercial plant yet. But with LM26 running and funds incoming, General Fusion positions itself to lead. The world waits to see if this Canadian team can turn star power into grid power.