☀️ Star power, almost within reach

Fusion energy is no longer a punchline. Whether it can become a business is another matter

My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world:

As a big fan of the potential of star power, I wasn’t exactly surprised to recently read that Helion, a highly regarded fusion startup backed by Sam Altman, was able to attract a big dollop of fresh funding, $465 million.

Pretty compelling story here. Between its (a) novel technical advances, (b) the reflected glory of Altman (who stepped down from the board in March), (c) the fundraising of other startups in the sector, and (d) the expanding need to clean power all those data centers, Helion should be able to tap investors for cash.

And it did.

I was surprised, however, that the Helion nearly tripled its valuation with this new funding round, a hefty $15.5 billion—and that before ever sending a single electron into the grid or into some Pacific Northwest data center.