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Acceleron Fusion, a pioneer in muon-catalyzed fusion energy, has closed a $24 million Series A funding round.

Acceleron is paving a path to plasma-free, sub-1000-degree fusion. It's cooler, cheaper, higher-energy gain fusion that stands to turn the industry on its head," said Dr. Clea Kolster, Partner and Head of Science at Lowercarbon Capital.

Acceleron is developing an intense, high-efficiency muon source to produce beams of muons using significantly less energy than current facilities, and a high-density fusion cell to allow each of these muons to catalyze larger numbers of fusion reactions. The company is building on decades of previous work in muon production and muon-catalyzed fusion by university and national lab researchers – and leveraging recent advances in materials science, computer simulation, and machine learning to develop the technology to the level of efficiency needed for energy production.

In October, Acceleron achieved a significant technical milestone by running its machine with highly compressed deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel, capturing data on 28 hours of continuous fusion, after more than 100 hours of testing with deuterium.

Muon-catalyzed fusion has the potential to solve this challenge, and open the door for fusion power plants that are smaller, and capable of operating at a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) estimated at $0.025/kWh—significantly cheaper than natural gas.