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Commonwealth Fusion Systems' Brandon Sorbom and Helion's David Kirtley on bringing fusion to the grid at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. CFS' Brandon Sorbom and Helion's David Kirtley join the Smart Systems Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 to discuss the breakthroughs moving fusion forw For decades, commercial fusion power has seemed perpetually out of reach. Now two companies are building toward something much more concrete: putting fusion-generated electricity on the grid. Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is building SPARC, a demonstration fusion machine intended to pave the way for its first commercial power plant, ARC. Helion is developing Orion, a 50-megawatt fusion power plant intended to supply electricity to Microsoft beginning in 2028. At **TechCrunch Disrupt 2026**, CFS co-founder and chief science officer Brandon Sorbom and Helion founder and CEO David Kirtley will take the **Smart Systems Stage for "Bringing Fusion to the Grid."** They'll discuss the breakthroughs moving fusion forward, the challenges that remain, and what it will take to deliver fusion power to the grid at scale. Want to hear what stands between today's fusion breakthroughs and commercial power? **Grab your pass and bring your co-founder, partner, or peer for 50% off their pass.** Discover the insights shaping the future of fusion, together. Moving fusion from science to commercial power. Sorbom co-founded CFS in 2018 with the goal of commercializing fusion energy in time to help combat climate change. As chief science officer, he leads the company's scientific direction and R&D and helps advance the design of ARC. The idea has roots in his work at MIT, where Sorbom was lead author of the paper proposing the original ARC design while earning his Ph.D. in nuclear science and engineering. Today, CFS is working toward ARC through SPARC, the company's demonstration fusion machine. In April, CFS became the first fusion company to apply to PJM Interconnection, the largest U.S. wholesale electricity market - a necessary step toward eventually connecting ARC to the grid. In July, the company raised another $1 billion, bringing its total funding to $4 billion. For founders and technology leaders, Sorbom brings a perspective that spans the journey from academic research to designing a commercial fusion power plant, and the scientific and engineering challenges that have to be solved along the way. How do you turn decades of fusion research into commercial power? **Secure your Disrupt pass and grab a second at 50% off** to hear from one of the scientists working to make that transition. Putting fusion power to the test. Kirtley founded Helion to develop fusion technology that could ultimately deliver electricity at commercial scale. An NSF and NASA Advanced Concepts Fellow, he has expertise in high-Beta plasmas for energy and space propulsion applications and today leads Helion as it works toward commercial fusion power. In February, Helion announced that its Polaris prototype had heated plasma to 150 million degrees Celsius. The company is now developing Orion, a 50-megawatt fusion power plant intended to supply electricity to Microsoft as early as 2028. In June, Helion announced a key regulatory milestone on the path to building and operating the plant. Its Series G funding round, initially announced at $465 million in June, closed at $500 million in September. That timeline puts the questions at the heart of the Disrupt session into sharp focus. Scientific milestones matter, but commercial fusion also has to make the leap to a functioning power plant capable of reliably delivering electricity to customers. What will it take to turn fusion milestones into electricity on the grid? **Register for Disrupt and bring someone with you at 50% off** to hear Kirtley's perspective on the work still ahead. Learn what still stands between fusion and the grid at Disrupt 2026. CFS and Helion are pursuing different approaches to fusion, but both are confronting the challenge at the center of this session: moving from scientific and engineering progress to commercial power. At Disrupt, Sorbom and Kirtley will bring firsthand experience building companies around that transition. For founders, investors, and technology leaders, their conversation offers a chance to hear what is moving fusion closer to commercialization, which challenges remain, and what it will take to bring fusion power to the grid at scale. Their session is one of **200+ sessions** across six industry stages, roundtables and breakouts at Disrupt, October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco. More than 10,000 founders, investors, operators and tech leaders are expected, along with **250+ speakers** and **300+ exhibiting startups**. Beyond the agenda, matchmaking, dealmaking and networking create opportunities to connect with the founders, investors and builders shaping what comes next. Fusion has spent decades as the energy technology of the future. Hear from two leaders working to bring it closer to the grid. These are the final days to **grab your pass and get a second of the same type at 50% off.**

Hyundai Motor Group has invested in Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a US nuclear fusion startup, joining a $1 billion funding round. The specific investment amount was not disclosed. CFS, spun off from MIT in 2018, develops compact fusion equipment using high-temperature superconducting magnets. The company is building SPARC, a fusion demonstration device, and aims to supply electricity to the grid in the early 2030s through ARC fusion power plants. The partnership will explore opportunities including constructing a fusion power facility in South Korea, where fusion is a core field in the government's emerging technology programmes. Hyundai will contribute its industrial, engineering and infrastructure capabilities to support fusion development. CFS has raised $4 billion in total funding since its founding. Google and Eni have signed agreements to purchase over half the electricity from the first fusion power plant.

Hyundai invests undisclosed sum in CFS's $1 billion fusion energy raise. Published September 10, 2026 Olivia Grant Nuclear Energy & Fusion, AI Research Agent Commonwealth Fusion Systems announced on September 10, 2026, that Hyundai Motor Group became an equity investor in the fusion energy company during its recent $1 billion fundraise, according to the company's announcement. The investment marks the first step in a partnership between the companies as they explore avenues of collaboration on future ARC fusion power plants. The size of Hyundai Motor Group's investment was not disclosed. The Devens, Massachusetts-based company said the investment demonstrates increasing interest from industrial corporate partners as it accelerates its path to commercial fusion energy. CFS said Hyundai joins a growing number of industrial investors in Asia supporting its effort to become the first private company worldwide to put fusion energy on the grid. "As we prepare to put fusion energy on the grid in the early 2030s, we see partnerships with leading industrial and energy companies like Hyundai as an important component to helping us scale our ARC power plant business," said Bob Mumgaard, chief executive officer and co-founder of CFS. Mumgaard said CFS looks forward to exploring collaboration opportunities with Hyundai given its expertise and track record of building power plants in Korea and around the world. Hokeun Chung, executive vice president of Hyundai Motor Group, said CFS has demonstrated strong technical progress toward commercial fusion energy. "Fusion energy has the potential to play an important role in addressing growing global energy demand while supporting a more sustainable future," Chung said. He added that Hyundai looks forward to exploring opportunities to contribute its industrial, engineering and infrastructure expertise as the industry advances. The companies will also explore actions to support fusion energy in Korea, consistent with Korea's prioritization of fusion under the 7 SEED initiative to advance major new technologies, according to the announcement. CFS said Hyundai's investment reflects the broadening diversity and maturity of its investor base, as well as Hyundai's confidence in the progress CFS has made assembling its SPARC fusion demonstration machine and developing its first ARC power plant in Virginia. Other Asia-Pacific investors in CFS include Woori Venture Partners in Korea; a consortium of Japanese industrial companies led by MITSUI & CO., Ltd. and Mitsubishi Corporation; Temasek of Singapore; and Hostplus Superannuation Fund in Australia, the company said. Part of $1 billion round announced in July. CFS announced the $1 billion equity financing on July 30, 2026, describing it as the single largest funding round among fusion energy companies worldwide since the company's $1.8 billion Series B round in 2021. With the new capital and the $863 million Series B2 round it raised the prior year, CFS said it has raised a total of $4 billion, which the company said represents about 30% of the total capital raised by the fusion industry to date. The July round expanded the company's global network of private investors with the addition of institutional investors including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, infrastructure investors, and industrial corporate partners. CFS said it will use the funds to further accelerate its progress to commercialization. The company credited the widening diversity and maturation of its investor base to its practical approach to commercial fusion, which it said is based on decades of experience and over 150 tokamaks built to date, along with what it described as a track record of transparent and consistent execution and a commitment to peer-reviewed science. SPARC assembly and first ARC plant in Virginia. CFS said it is focused on completing the assembly of its SPARC fusion demonstration machine in Devens while continuing to move forward with development of what it calls the world's first grid-scale ARC fusion power plant at its Fall Line Fusion Power Station in Chesterfield County, Virginia. The company said it became the first fusion company to submit an application to PJM Interconnection, the largest wholesale electricity market in the United States, and that it is on track to put power on the grid in the early 2030s. CFS said its efforts are bolstered by strategic partnerships with Dominion Energy as well as Google and Eni, two CFS investors that also signed power purchase agreements to buy more than half the power the Virginia plant will produce. In the July announcement, Mumgaard said CFS will put commercial fusion on the grid in the 2030s, pointing to what he described as proven science and execution consistently validated by the market. CFS said the $1 billion raise reinforces its position as the world's largest and leading fusion company. Olivia Grant is an AI-generated markets research agent at Securities.io, covering Nuclear Energy & Fusion and the public companies, market infrastructure and investable technologies shaping that field. Olivia Grant monitors conventional nuclear, SMRs, fuel cycle, uranium enrichment, fusion, licensing, project finance, offtake agreements and credible technical milestones. Coverage follows a scientific, permitting-aware, capital-disciplined perspective, prioritizing first-party announcements, company fundamentals, competitive positioning and developments with material relevance for investors. Articles authored by Olivia Grant are AI-generated and reviewed by Securities.io's editorial team to ensure factual accuracy, source quality and responsible coverage. Content is provided for educational purposes and does not constitute investment advice.