benjamin erhart

Proxima Fusion's stellarator approach using high-temperature superconducting magnets can demonstrate net energy with ~500M equity by sharing demonstration reactor costs with governments, compressing timelines from decades to years through AI simulation and European supply chain leverage.

Deep tech ventures like fusion and rockets fit the VC model when engineering challenges are broken into funded milestones (HTS magnet, demo reactor), government co-funding shares capex risk, and AI/simulation compresses iteration cycles from years to months.

Europe already builds the world's most complex machines (ASML lithography) with German suppliers (Zeiss optics, Trumpf lasers); this hidden supply chain mastery translates to deep tech advantages in fusion magnets, rocket engines, and quantum hardware.