Dual-use fusion technologies - Harnessing risk-mitigated stellar returns
Ripple Hosts
Dan Shafqat
Decarb Ventures
Mark White
UK Innovation & Seed Fund
TL;DR
Picks and shovels of the fusion energy industry offer immediate commercial opportunities within non-fusion markets whilst retaining upside exposure to the promises of fusion.
Topic overview
Fusion's promise as the holy grail of energy is well-publicised, but beyond the headline-grabbing core fusion companies are a plethora of enabling technologies that have applicability for both fusion and lucrative non-fusion markets, such as medical, grid, nuclear fission, compute and defence. These opportunities allow investors and entrepreneurs to gain exposure to the promises of fusion energy when (or if) it is commercially ready, but provide downside protection to those that are sceptical of fusion's viability, relevance or timelines.
What’s up for discussion?
What characteristics make fusion-related innovations well-suited for adoption in other markets?
Which target markets are emerging as strong candidates for fusion-related technologies?
How should investors underwrite investments in enabling technologies? How should they assess fusion vs. non-fusion markets? How should they think about liquidity?
Which kinds of investors have the right to win in this space? e.g. fusion specific, climate broad, deeptech broad, CVCs, etc.
Are non-fusion markets a distraction to the core prize of fusion, or a helpful de-risking strategy?
Do we need a new kind of playbook for bringing fusion innovations to market or can we borrow from other deeptech domains?
How can technical teams speak the language of customers and investors? Should they think about teaming up with more commercially minded entrepreneurs?
Dream outcome
That attendees come out the Ripple understanding that fusion is much more than the core fusion companies, and that there are several relevant deeptech opportunities spinning out of universities, national labs and corporates that could advance fusion whilst serving non-fusion markets.
Would love it if a commercially-minded entrepreneur or venture builder made it their next project to team up with a technical team working on a fusion-adjacent problem.
Who should attend?
Deeptech investors
CVCs and corporates from multi-industry conglomerates
Serial founders looking for their next deeptech venture
Investors interested in fusion but not able to underwrite fusion core risk