Needham: CFS built a breakthrough magnet in 38 months, raising $1.8B
Rick Needham · The tape that led to a fusion breakthrough · Jun 18, 2025 · at 9:16
Rick Needham, Chief Commercial Officer of Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), discusses the technical milestones that convinced investors to back the fusion startup.
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“From our series A, that critical milestone was build that very, very powerful magnet, which people said you cannot do. There's not enough material in the world to build it. No one's ever done it. It's not going to work. We said, we'll do it in three years. Shame on us. We did it in three years and two months. And by the way, that's in the midst of COVID and supply chain disruptions, that proof of that magnet. Three months later, we raised 1.8 billion series B.”
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