Pranos Fusion Secures $6.8 Million Seed Round to Propel High-Field Magnet & Compact Tokamak Development
BENGALURU, India – Deep-tech startup Pranos Fusion has successfully raised $6.8 million (approximately ₹63 crore) in a seed funding round aimed at accelerating the development of its high-field fusion reactor technology. The round was co-led by pi Ventures and Ankur Capital, with participation from existing investor Industrial47 and several prominent angel investors, including the founders of Razorpay and Groww.
Bridging the Gap to Commercial Fusion
Founded in May 2024 by Shaurya Kaushal and Roshan George, Pranos Fusion is positioning itself as a key player in the global race for clean, limitless energy. Unlike traditional massive fusion projects like ITER, Pranos is focused on a compact, low-aspect-ratio tokamak design. This approach leverages high-field magnets to achieve the necessary plasma confinement in a significantly smaller and more cost-effective physical footprint.
The company's technology stack is built on three core pillars:
JENGA: A proprietary software platform for design and plasma control.
MAGGA: A program focused on High-Temperature Superconducting (HTS) magnets, which are essential for creating the intense magnetic fields required for fusion.
PRAGYA: Their first integrated tokamak testbed used to validate their software and hardware synergy.
Strategic Goals and Milestones
The freshly infused capital will be deployed to expand the engineering team, build out testing facilities, and advance their magnet systems. A critical milestone on the horizon is the commissioning of their own tokamak, with the goal of achieving "First Plasma" by 2026.
"Fusion has been proven scientifically. The real challenge now is making it commercially viable," said Shaurya Kaushal, CEO of Pranos Fusion. "Building this in India is seven to ten times cheaper than in the US at our stage, allowing us to innovate rapidly on the global stage."
Ecosystem and Market Context
Pranos is co-incubated at the Institute for Plasma Research (IPR) and the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR). This collaboration provides the startup with access to deep institutional knowledge and existing fusion infrastructure in India.
The funding comes at a time when global electricity demand is projected to surge by 20% by 2030, driven largely by the expansion of AI and advanced manufacturing. While commercial fusion power is still a long-term goal, Pranos aims to commercialize intermediate technologies—such as their advanced HTS magnets—for use in MRI machines, defense, and transportation industries in the near term.