Deep Tech Briefing #32: 🧠 OpenAI Share Buybacks After $6.6B Raise; ☢️ Laser Fusion by 2027?; 🔋 Dry-Coating EV Battery Tech; 🛰️ Orbital Transfer Vehicles Scaling; 👚 Microfiber Capture Tech
An insider’s update on Deep Tech Ventures: Your dose of tech innovations, startups, exponential industries, policies, and market moves to stay ahead and capitalize on it.
Welcome to this edition of Deep Tech Briefing, our Sunday column where we break down the week’s top developments in Deep Tech Startups and Venture Capital.
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In today’s edition
OpenAI Plans Employee Share Buybacks After $6.6B Raise
Millions Flow into Laser Fusion Tech Aiming for 2027
Dry-Coating EV Battery Tech Could Revolutionize Production
Orbital Transfer Vehicles Gain Traction in Space Logistics
Breakthrough Microfiber Capture Tech Targets Textile Pollution
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☢️ Nuclear Fusion by 2027? Millions for a German Startup to Demonstrate Laser Technology
Despite recent acceleration in investments in the sector, many analysts believe that commercial fusion energy is still at least a decade away. It will also have to compete with renewable energy and battery storage, which continue to become cheaper every year. However, this week, Marvel Fusion raised $70.3 million, which will allow the company to continue demonstrating its fusion concept at existing research centers and achieve full proof of its technology by 2027 at its Colorado facility.
When it comes to fusion energy, there are two main approaches: the first is to create a small star here on Earth, confined by powerful magnetic fields. The second involves using high-intensity lasers to create a series of micro-stars, repeating the process several times per second.
Marvel Fusion is one of several companies pursuing what is known as inertial confinement fusion, an approach that has already been demonstrated in 2022 at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory.
However, this German startup focuses on a radical improvement of inertial confinement fusion, using ultra-fast femtosecond lasers and a hydrogen-boron-based fuel. This approach, as highlighted in a report by optics.org, not only simplifies the technical process but also reduces costs and improves efficiency.
In practice, these femtosecond lasers bombard a nanostructured target, designed to maximize the effectiveness of fusion. The chosen fuel – hydrogen and boron – is solid at room temperature, making it easier to handle than the cryogenic fuels used in other projects, such as NIF. Furthermore, Marvel’s targets are made from silicon nanostructures – easily producible with standard semiconductor technology. This could offer a significant advantage in terms of scalability, as production can leverage pre-existing industrial infrastructure, significantly lowering implementation costs.
For the industrial market, nuclear fusion represents one of the boldest and potentially most profitable bets of the 21st century. With global energy consumption expected to increase by 50% by 2050 and the pressure to reduce carbon emissions, fusion energy presents a promising, sustainable long-term solution. Fusion’s potential goes beyond energy production; its ability to generate clean, virtually inexhaustible energy could revolutionize entire industries, including energy-intensive sectors like steelmaking and heavy manufacturing.
This race toward fusion is intensifying. In fact, according to a BloombergNEF report, in 2023 private investments in the fusion sector exceeded $5 billion, with over 35 global startups competing to achieve the first commercial fusion power plant. However, despite decades of research, no fusion project has yet achieved sustainable, energy-positive fusion, where the energy output exceeds the input. So, who will win this gold rush? Will they be the heroes?
🧠 After the $6.6 Billion Round, OpenAI Unveils Employee Share Buyback Plan—Why?
By now, it's common knowledge that OpenAI has just closed a private funding round of $6.6 billion, pushing the innovative and much-lauded company to a post-money valuation of $157 billion. To put this into perspective, this places OpenAI in the same league as public giants like Goldman Sachs and Pfizer. These are undeniably impressive figures, but let’s set aside the dizzying numbers for a moment.
According to The Information,