Oct 24, 2024

Commonwealth Fusion Systems A magnet test engineer checks fluid levels in a testing device at Commonwealth Fusion Systems in Devens, Massachusetts on October 11, 2023. Photo: Steven Senne (AP) Breakthrough Energy invested in Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ $115 million Series A funding round in June 2019, according to PitchBook. The investment firm was a follow-on investor in the company’s $84 million Series A2 round in May 2020, and its $1.8 billion Series B funding round in December 2021, which also counted Gates as an investor, according to PitchBook. Advertisement Commonwealth Fusion Systems, the largest commercial fusion energy company in the world, uses high-temperature superconducting magnets to build tokamak fusion systems, which are small and low-cost. The company is currently working with MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center on a fusion device called SPARC , which can produce “plasmas which generate more energy than they consume, becoming the first net-energy fusion machine.” After SPARC, CFS said it will build ARC , “the world’s first fusion power plant capable of producing net electricity.” Advertisement KoBold Metals Josh Goldman, co-founder of KoBold Metals, during the Presentation of Green Energy Mining Deal on December 14, 2022 in Washington, D.C. Photo: Tasos Katopodis (Getty Images) Gates was the lead partner in Breakthrough Energy’s investment in KoBold Metals’ $5 million Series A funding round in March 2019, which valued the company at $12.5 million, according to PitchBook. Advertisement KoBold uses AI to find deposits of high-demand metals , such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, that can be used in the production of renewable energy products like solar panels and electric vehicle batteries. The company has over 60 projects on four continents. Breakthrough Energy also invested in the company’s $200.8 million Series B funding round in February 2022, leading to a $517.83 million valuation, and in another Series B round in March 2023 where it raised $195 million, and was valued at $1 billion. Gates was listed as an investor in this Series B funding round on PitchBook. Advertisement Fervo Energy A drill rig at a Fervo Energy geothermal site under construction near Milford, Utah on November 26, 2023. Photo: Ellen Schmidt (AP) Gates and Breakthrough Energy are listed as investors in Fervo Energy’s $11 million Series A funding round in July 2019, according to PitchBook, which valued the company at $25 million. Advertisement Fervo Energy uses “precision directional drilling technology to drill horizontally in geothermal reservoirs,” so it can drill multiple wells for geothermal energy with a lower surface footprint. The company says geothermal technology, which uses hot water to produce electricity , is the “ideal” source to meet growing demand for 24/7 carbon-free electricity. Geothermal is also ideal to complement solar and wind energy, according to the company. Breakthrough Energy was a follow-on investor in the company’s $28 million Series B funding round in April 2021, which valued it at $70 million, according to PitchBook, and invested again in its $138.2 million Series C in August 2022, which led to a $308.2 million valuation. Gates was also an investor in Fervo Energy’s $244 million Series D funding round in February, according to PitchBook. The Series D led the company to a $640 million valuation. Advertisement