A new fusion energy startup is betting big that a breakthrough achieved at a federal laboratory two years ago can be turned into commercial-scale clean electricity.
Inertia Enterprises, launched by Twilio co-founder Jeff Lawson alongside physicist Dr. Andrea Kritcher and professor Mike Dunne, announced its plans in August to accelerate the path from research to usable fusion power.
In a statement, the company said it has secured nearly 200 patents and a first-of-its-kind partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where Kritcher helped lead the experiment that produced the world's first fusion ignition in December 2022.
That test marked the first time scientists generated more energy from fusion than the lasers required to spark the reaction.
Unlike traditional nuclear fission, which splits atoms, fusion mimics the reaction that powers the sun by combining light elements. Advocates say the process could one day deliver massive amounts of reliable, low-carbon power with minimal radioactive waste and without the uranium and plutonium used in today's nuclear plants.
Inertia's approach involves developing compact, mass-produced lasers and fuel targets to replicate the LLNL success at scale. If successful, a single fusion power plant could supply electricity to more than a million people while consuming only water and small amounts of lithium.
"We're at a crucial tipping point," Dunne said in the launch announcement, noting that new laser technology could shrink facilities from the size of three football fields to a commercially viable footprint.
Nuclear power, which includes both existing fission and emerging fusion technologies, remains one of the most debated solutions in the clean energy transition. On the plus side, nuclear plants generate steady, carbon-free electricity that complements intermittent sources like wind and solar.
At the same time, the industry faces serious hurdles: radioactive waste management, safety risks, long construction timelines, and concerns about nuclear proliferation. Fusion may avoid some of these drawbacks, but its commercial readiness is still uncertain.
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Fusion's potential has drawn both government funding and private investment. Lawson framed Inertia's mission as turning "big science to commercial energy," while Kritcher called the breakthrough "a monumental step for limitless clean energy."
With billions already invested in fusion startups worldwide, Inertia is positioning itself at the front of a race to bring one of science's most ambitious energy dreams to the grid. If it works, the payoff could reshape both global power systems and the climate fight.
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