The nuclear fusion industry enjoyed a big increase in funding this year, despite most fusion technologies not being ready to deliver commercial electricity until the 2030s, the Fusion Industry Association (FIA) said in a report.
In the FIA’s 2026 Global Fusion Industry report, published July 13, the non-profit organization said the industry received $4.4 billion in the past year. This is a big jump from $2.6 billion in funding. Which the organization reported a year earlier.
Since 2021, the industry has received $14.2 billion in funding, with $13.2 billion of it coming from the private sector. The report, which surveyed 56 fusion companies across the world, said U.S. companies Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Inertia Enterprises and Helion Energy have led the way, raising hundreds of millions of dollars over the past year.
Proxima Fusion, a German fusion energy company, also raised $518 million this month, the report said.
While funding, a central concern for the U.S. fusion sector, seems to be increasing, the technology timelines remain to be largely unchanged, according to the report. FIA said the 2030s timeline has virtually remained unchanged since its first report in 2021.
Additionally, even the increased funding may not be enough for many of the companies’ goals to hit the commercial market. According to the report, 67% of the companies said funding is still the largest short-term concern for them. When asked how much money would be needed to build a commercial fusion plant, responses ranged from $100 million to nearly $11 billion. The average ended up being around $2.7 billion, which is up from last year, the FIA said.
FIA, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a non-profit organization made up of private companies working towards the commercialization of fusion technology. The full report can be found on the FIA’s website.