ALTERNATIVE FINANCING FORMS
FOR ENTREPRENEURS AND INVESTORS
News
Photo: Dr. Tobias Larisch, Partner at Kirkland (Photo © Kirkland)

RWE expands its fusion industry stake in Focused Energy

Photo: Dr. Tobias Larisch, Part­ner at Kirk­land (Photo © Kirkland)
3. June 2026

Frank­furt a. M. — As part of the successful Series A finan­cing round of Focu­sed Energy, RWE has expan­ded its exis­ting invest­ment in the Darm­­­stadt-based laser fusion company since Octo­ber 2025 and inves­ted a further 60 million euros.
Nuclear fusion is deve­lo­ping rapidly world­wide and Germany is gaining signi­fi­cant weight in the
global fusion market. Well-known inves­tors from Europe, the USA, Asia and the Gulf region parti­ci­pa­ted in the finan­cing round along­side RWE and the German Fede­ral Agency for Leap Inno­va­tions. This is clear evidence that German start-ups are percei­ved by foreign inves­tors as promi­sing drivers of tech­no­lo­gi­cal inno­va­tion in fusion, parti­cu­larly Focu­sed Energy in the field of laser fusion. 

Germany has an outstan­ding ecosys­tem of excel­lent rese­arch and start-ups,
support­ing indus­trial compa­nies and exis­ting loca­ti­ons that can be used
. It also has an effi­ci­ent supply chain. These are excellent
prere­qui­si­tes for exploi­ting the decisive
speed advan­tage in the global compe­ti­tion for fusion energy. Germany ther­e­fore has the best chan­ces of main­tai­ning and further expan­ding its leading role in nuclear fusion in global competition. 

Toge­ther with the state of Hesse and other part­ners, Focu­sed Energy is parti­ci­pa­ting in the current fede­ral govern­ment tender for a laser fusion hub in
this context. The
site in Biblis can play a key role in the further deve­lo­p­ment of
fusion tech­no­logy in Germany as a central laser fusion campus — where busi­ness, rese­arch and
inno­va­tion are brought together. 

Dr. Markus Kreb­ber, CEO RWE AGThanks to its excel­lent rese­arch land­scape and inno­va­tive start-ups such as Focu­sed Energy — one of the leading compa­nies in the field of laser fusion — Germany is well posi­tio­ned to play a leading role in nuclear fusion globally. We are ther­e­fore prepared to further expand our invest­ment in Focu­sed Energy. It is an important signal that the fede­ral and state govern­ments are working toge­ther to drive forward deve­lo­p­ment in order to realize a commer­cial fusion reac­tor in Germany. RWE expressly supports this goal: with our dismant­ling sites, our exis­ting nuclear infra­struc­ture and our many years of exper­tise in licen­sing law, we are crea­ting the ideal condi­ti­ons to secure time and cost advan­ta­ges for Germany in inter­na­tio­nal competition.”

Focu­sed Energy is a leader in laser-based fusion tech­no­logy, is invol­ved in inter­na­tio­nal rese­arch projects and aims to deve­lop high-energy lasers for poten­tial use in laser fusion power plants. As part of its invest­ment, RWE will grant Focu­sed Energy access to its Biblis site to build a pilot plant for laser-based fusion technology. 

Advi­sor RWE: Kirk­land & Ellis, Frankfurt

Dr. Tobias Larisch (photo © Kirk­land), Fried­rich von der Heydt-von Kalck­reuth (both lead, both Private Equity/M&A), Asso­cia­tes: Henrik Kilian, Dr. Maxi­mi­lian Beil­ner, Mirjam Meyer, Michael Döpp­ner (all Private Equity/M&A)

About Kirk­land

With more than 4,000 lawy­ers in 23 cities in the USA, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Kirk­land & Ellis is one of the leading law firms for high-cali­­ber legal services. The German team specia­li­zes in private equity, M&A, restruc­tu­ring, corpo­rate and capi­tal markets, finan­cing and tax. For more infor­ma­tion, please visit kirkland.com.

Subscribe newsletter

Here you can read about the latest transactions, IPOs, private equity deals and venture capital investments, who has raised a new fund, how Buy & Build activities are going.

Get in touch

Contact us!
fyb [at] fyb.de