Organization Name: Proxima Fusion Website: proximafusion.com Industry: Energy Location: Munich, Germany Employee Count: 51 - 250 Year Founded: 2023 Description: Proxima Fusion spun out of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in 2023 and has since worked in public-private partnership with IPP to further expand the physics and engineering basis to build the first generation of fusion power plants using quasi-isodynamic (QI) stellarators. Proxima's simulation-driven engineering approach leverages advanced computing and high-temperature superconductors to build on the ground-breaking results of the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) experiment. Francesco Sciortino - Co-Founder And Chief Executive Officer Bio: Dr. Francesco Sciortino is CEO and co-founder of Proxima Fusion. After his studies at Imperial College and EPFL, Francesco did research on magnetic confinement fusion during his PhD in plasma physics and fusion energy at MIT. He then moved to the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, where he acted as one of the European coordinators for tokamak research. It was at IPP that Francesco progressively shifted his focus from tokamaks to stellarators, recognizing breakthroughs in stellarator research in 2022 and defining a new path to faster commercialization of fusion energy. Martin Kubie - Co-Founder and Chief Engineer Bio: Martin Kubie is Chief Engineer and co-founder of Proxima Fusion. Martin has architected and led engineering projects for companies at the frontier of science and technology including in Formula 1 for McLaren Racing and at the Google X spin-off Wing, deploying one of the world's largest fleets of autonomous delivery drones. At Proxima, Martin is now leading the engineering teams that combine rapid prototyping with simulation- and ML-driven design. Jorrit Lion - Co-Founder and Chief Scientist Bio: Dr. Jorrit Lion is Chief Scientist and co-founder of Proxima Fusion. Previously, during his time as a doctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP), Jorrit worked to answer the question of how a stellarator based on the Wendelstein 7-X concept would need to be designed for commercial power production. His vision offered the basis for Proxima’s approach to stellarator optimization at the interface of physics, engineering and economics. At Proxima, he is currently responsible for the design of the demonstrator device Alpha, which aims to start operations in 2031 and showcase net energy in a stellarator for the first time. Lucio Milanese - Co-Founder and Chief External Affairs Officer Bio: Dr. Lucio Milanese is co-founder and Chief External Affairs Officer of Proxima Fusion. Prior to co-founding Proxima Fusion, Lucio was a Senior Advisor at McKinsey, supporting top private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds and companies on fusion and due diligence. He holds a PhD in theoretical plasma physics from MIT, where he specialized in plasma turbulence and tokamaks, before shifting his focus to QI stellarators to develop Proxima Fusion. Jonathan Schilling - Co-Founder and Head of Labs Bio: Jonathan Schilling is Head of Labs and co-founder of Proxima Fusion. Jonathan has hands-on experience in building advanced models for magnetic confinement fusion experiments, with expertise including experimental plasma physics, theoretical plasma physics, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Prior to co-founding Proxima Fusion, Jonathan was a Doctoral Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP), where he analyzed plasma behavior in the record-breaking experiments of Wendelstein 7-X. Sergei Galperin - Chief Financial Officer Bio: Sergei Galperin spent more than fifteen years at J.P. Morgan, rising to European Head of Financial Technology Advisory, where he led strategic and capital markets transactions for some of Europe's fastest-growing companies. He subsequently moved from advisor to operator as Chief Financial Officer of Alan, scaling the company through successive funding rounds and building the financial infrastructure to support its expansion across Europe and into Canada. Most recently at the Silicon Valley-based investment firm Ribbit Capital, he backed founders across the same European growth ecosystem he had helped nurture. At Proxima, Sergei leads the company's financial strategy. Lennart Bock - Head of Operations Bio: Dr. Lennart Bock combines deep domain knowledge on plasma physics with broad business knowledge. Lennart holds a PhD from Technical University of Munich and went from organizing conferences and workshops about entrepreneurship to working on several early stage companies during his time as PhD candidate at the Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics. He now heads Business Operations at Proxima, and has been building the backbone of the company since pre-foundation. - Barrington "Baz" D'Arcy: Removed from Website as Chief Technical Operations Officer at Proxima Fusion (Jul 28, 2026). - Sergei Galperin: Appointed Chief Financial Officer at Proxima Fusion (Jun 2, 2026). - Barrington "Baz" D'Arcy: Appointed Chief Manufacturing Officer at Proxima Fusion (Dec 16, 2024, Press Release). Q: Who is the CEO of Proxima Fusion? A: The CEO of Proxima Fusion is Francesco Sciortino. Q: How can I get in contact with the leadership of Proxima Fusion? A: Warm introductions can make all the difference for getting in front of the right individuals. Using known executive relationships, ExecAtlas has mapped connections into Proxima Fusion for over 9,700 organizations. Q: What organizations are similar to Proxima Fusion? A: Organizations similar to Proxima Fusion include Energy Vault Holdings, Inc., First Light Fusion Ltd, Heliogen, Inc., Helion Energy, TAE Technologies, Inc., and ZAP ENERGY, INC. Q: Where are the headquarters of Proxima Fusion? A: Proxima Fusion is located in Munich, Germany. Q: How many employees does Proxima Fusion have? A: Proxima Fusion has 51 - 250 employees. Q: When was Proxima Fusion founded? A: Proxima Fusion was founded in 2023.