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A Xcimer employee inserts a copper sulfate solution resistor into a pulsed power system — part of the power supply for the laser amplifier.

First Major Hardware Completed for Prototype Laser System, Validating Groundbreaking Fusion Energy Design

March 3, 2025

Inertial fusion energy company activates first electron-beam laser built anywhere in the world in over two decades, takes key step on path to commercialization Xcimer Energy Inc. announced that it has completed the first key component of its prototype laser system, Phoenix, currently under development at its Denver facility. The newly completed Long Pulse Kinetics (LPK) platform is an electron-beam pumped excimer laser created to validate Xcimer’s modeling and design of such systems. Xcimer’s fusion approach, which experts recognize as having among the most viable commercialization prospects and best long-term economics, integrates proven fusion science with a novel excimer laser technology. In contrast to conventional fusion laser designs, Xcimer is pioneering the use of excimer lasers at microsecond-scale pulse lengths, significantly reducing costs while enhancing energy output. While excimer lasers are widely used in semiconductor lithography, medical and industrial applications, Xcimer is the first company to apply them to fusion energy at this scale. “Our approach to inertial fusion energy is the only one that has been experimentally demonstrated to exceed breakeven,” said Conner Galloway, CEO and chief science officer of Xcimer. “Now, we are heads-down on building and refining our technology. The completion of our first electron-beam-pumped excimer laser demonstrates progress toward validating our design and advancing commercialization. We are well on our way to building the world’s lowest cost, highest energy laser for fusion energy.” Inertial fusion energy involves repetitively igniting small capsules of fusion fuel inside a vacuum chamber to generate bursts of energy. The LPK platform serves as an experimental testbed, capable of operating under various pressures, energies, voltages and pulse lengths. Xcimer is currently collecting data from the platform, which will prove the viability of its technology and inform future design of its systems. Xcimer’s roadmap includes completion of Phoenix in 2026, and the

Manufacturing the Ultimate Energy Source

December 30, 2024

Powering Human Progress with Inertial Fusion On the arc of progress, energy has driven almost every major advancement in human civilization. From steam engines to air travel, every leap in progress has come with rising energy use, growing 2–3% annually in the U.S. since the early 1800s—a trend known as the Henry Adams Curve. But since the 1970s, that trajectory stalled as the environmental costs of fossil fuels became clear and alternatives failed to emerge. The promise of fusion energy—the same process that powers stars—could change this equation entirely. “With fusion, you’re essentially manufacturing energy as opposed to drilling for it,” explains Conner Galloway, CEO and CSO at Xcimer Energy. “The total amount of fuel consumed by a gigawatt-scale fusion plant for a year could be carried in the back of a pickup truck versus many mile-long trains of coal. There’s millennia supply of fusion fuels in the Earth’s crust and oceans, making it the ultimate energy source to propel humanity forward.” Read More

$100 Million Raised to Advance Inertial Fusion Energy Toward Commercialization

June 4, 2024

Series A round will enable Xcimer to expand its team and build a prototype system to demonstrate the viability of its low-cost, high-energy laser approach Xcimer Energy Inc. today announced that it has raised $100 million in Series A financing led by Hedosophia, with participation from investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Prelude Ventures, Emerson Collective, Gigascale Capital and Starlight Ventures. Xcimer will use this financing to establish a new facility in Denver, where it will build a prototype laser system including the world’s largest nonlinear optical pulse compression system to advance the development of its transformative technology for laser-driven inertial fusion. Xcimer’s mission is to extend the proven science of inertial fusion to industrial scale by developing the world’s highest-energy laser system and combining it with key technologies and innovations from multiple fields. It has developed an approach to fusion energy that many experts recognize as having the best long-term economics and therefore most viable commercialization prospects of any fusion approach. Xcimer’s laser architecture will produce up to 10 times higher laser energy at 10 times higher efficiency and over 30 times lower cost per joule than the National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser system that achieved fusion scientific breakeven in December 2022. The funding also equips Xcimer to expand its technical team in Denver, where it recently moved the majority of employees. The company announced today it has hired a senior vice president of engineering, Giovanni Greco, who brings decades of experience leading teams developing complex aerospace systems at Blue Origin and Astra Space. Greco will lead engineering at Xcimer, starting with the design, development and manufacturing of the prototype laser system to be constructed in Denver. “This Series A financing enables us to achieve key milestones along the path to commercial inertial fusion energy,” said Conner Galloway,

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First Major Hardware Completed for Prototype Laser System, Validating Groundbreaking Fusion Energy Design

Manufacturing the Ultimate Energy Source

$100 Million Raised to Advance Inertial Fusion Energy Toward Commercialization

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