'Nuclear Fusion Startup' Eternafusion Secures 2.3 Billion Won in Seed Funding

Investment Focused on Demonstrating and Validating Tokamak Injection
"Aiming for Commercialization of Fusion Energy in the 2030s"

Domestic nuclear fusion power startup Eternafusion has secured seed funding totaling 2.3 billion won. Nuclear fusion is a technology that replicates the sun's energy-generating process on Earth. Because it can stably produce large-scale electricity without emitting carbon, it is receiving attention as the "energy of dreams."

On the 6th, an Eternafusion representative stated, "We have attracted seed investment from Company K Partners, Bluepoint Partners, and Seoul National University Technology Holdings." The specific investment amounts and company valuation for each investor remain undisclosed.

Recently, with the surge in power demand due to the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and semiconductor plants, the global nuclear fusion industry has been rapidly shifting toward a competition structure led by private startups. While leading overseas companies are securing investments worth several trillion won, in Korea, the Ministry of Science and ICT is spearheading efforts to establish a nuclear fusion commercialization ecosystem centered around private companies.

The newly raised funds will be primarily used to demonstrate the concept and verify the core technologies of Eternafusion's proprietary plasma current drive technology, "Tokamak Injection."

Traditional nuclear fusion industry power generation methods have a structural limitation in that it is difficult to operate continuously for 24 hours like a commercial power plant. To address this, the company is focusing on developing technology that continuously supplies plasma current from outside. By stably maintaining the plasma current inside the tokamak with high efficiency, the aim is to enable uninterrupted continuous operation, which is essential for commercial power plants.

Furthermore, the company plans to apply this technology to a spherical tokamak device, which is advantageous for miniaturization, and target the global market with the "Compact Modular Fusion Reactor" (COSMOS), capable of stable 24-hour operation.

Eternafusion's Chief Technology Officer Yoonho Jung, CEO Taekyung Kim, and Chief Strategy Officer Yongseok Hwang. Eternafusion

The company's strong on-site research capabilities are also considered a strength. The core research team was formed by graduates from the Seoul National University VEST laboratory. Since 2011, they have independently developed and operated "VEST," Korea's only spherical tokamak-based nuclear fusion experimental device. Recognized for this technological capability, the company has been intensively fostered since 2024 through the "Deep Science Startup Promotion Project" led by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Technology Commercialization Promotion Agency.

Namgi Min, Senior Investment Manager at Bluepoint Partners, who oversaw the investment, explained, "Nuclear fusion power generation is a representative deep science field that must be approached from the perspective of long-term technological sovereignty and energy security rather than short-term marketability. We decided to invest because the team is directly tackling the core challenge of continuous operation in commercial nuclear fusion power generation, based on Korea's only spherical tokamak experimental experience."

Taekyung Kim, CEO of Eternafusion, stated, "Based on this investment, we will quickly demonstrate the core technologies needed to secure global competitiveness," adding, "We will accelerate our development toward the goal of commercializing nuclear fusion energy in the 2030s."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.