Minerva Growth Partners Invests in Kyoto Fusioneering Series D Round
Minerva, previously focused on internet and software companies in Japan, is making its first deep tech bet on a fusion infrastructure supplier it calls the industry's Picks & Shovels.
Reporting from 1 source: ASCII.jp.
Minerva Growth Partners has invested in the Series D round of Kyoto Fusioneering, a fusion energy plant engineering company established in 2019 from Kyoto University research. The firm calls the investment its first in deep tech, betting on fusion's shift from R&D to industrialization. Kyoto Fusioneering builds plasma heating, fuel cycle, and blanket systems for global clients.
The deal marks a departure for Minerva Growth Partners, which has spent its history investing in Japanese internet and software companies. The firm now sees fusion energy forming a large new market over the coming decades, driven by rising electricity demand from AI, energy security concerns, and decarbonization efforts.
Kyoto Fusioneering operates the UNITY-1 test plant in Kumiyama, Kyoto Prefecture, and is building UNITY-2 with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and UNITY-3 with Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States. The Series D funds will go toward those demonstration facilities, R&D and manufacturing capacity for gyrotron plasma heating systems, and global hiring.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.