Avalanche Energy

Avalanche Energy is a US-based company that was launched out of stealth in January 2022. As of February 2024, the company was designing, building, and testing micro-fusion reactors. The company’s 5 kWe power pack, called the “Orbitron,” is small enough to hold in your hand. The Orbitron design is based on specialized electrostatic ion traps operated at hundreds of kilovolts to confine fusion fuel ions in precessing elliptical orbits at extremely high velocities. The company envisions that its applications will include personal transportation and microgrid power.

Since June 2021, Avalanche has operated two high-voltage reactor prototypes and, in May 2022, was awarded a prototype contract by the US Defense Innovation Unit to demonstrate the next generation of nuclear propulsion and power generation for spacecraft.

In April 2023, Avalanche achieved a record of 200 kilovolts in its second prototype micro-fusion reactor, which made it the highest known operating voltage of any fusion device following the 190 kilovolts produced by the University of Wisconsin at Madison in a 2006 experiment.

Key customers and partnerships

In January 2024, Avalanche reported that the company is developing Gen-3 and Gen-4 of its integrated fusion reactor, the Orbitron, under contract with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) for in-space applications.

Funding and financials

Avalanche’s most recent funding was in October 2023, when the company received a USD 275,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The company intended to use the funds to improve the efficiency of its Orbitron fusion device. Prior to this, in April 2023, the company raised USD 40 million in a Series A funding round led by Lowercarbon Capital. The company intended to use the funding to continue its work to test, develop, and optimize its high-voltage Orbitron prototypes as well as miniaturize critical components for delivering a stand-alone micro-fusion reactor.