Astral Systems – a deep-tech firm pioneering a new type of nuclear fusion technology – has secured £23m in the first close of a Series A investment led by Mercia Ventures. The round is supported by prominent tech investors including Tees River, Daphni and Blast Club, alongside previous investors Speedinvest and Playfair Capital.
It will enable the company to use its proprietary multi-state fusion (MSF) technology to develop medical isotopes that are critical for cancer diagnosis and treatment, expand production of its modular reactors and advance fusion research.
Radioisotopes are used in over 50 million procedures each year and demand is set to rise as the population ages and cancer cases increase. However as older reactors are shut down, the materials used are becoming rarer and more expensive, creating the risk of global shortages.
Astral Systems’ modular reactors use multi-state fusion technology, which harnesses the latest understanding of stellar physics and enables them to operate with greater efficiency and at lower cost than traditional reactors.
The Bristol-based company is developing a new high-energy facility at the former Berkeley Power Station in Gloucestershire. It intends to be running multiple reactors at full capacity by the end of the year and to bring one or more medical isotopes to market in 2027. Over the following years it aims to manufacture dozens more reactors and expand their use across other commercial sectors.
Astral Systems was founded by Talmon Firestone, a serial entrepreneur in the field of nuclear fusion, and Dr Tom Wallace-Smith, a nuclear physicist with previous experience in Rolls-Royce’s nuclear submarines team.
The company has already established neutron source irradiation facilities and generated more than £3m in revenue from commercial and research contracts. It is currently working with partners from industry and academia on a number of research projects to produce radioisotopes and advanced nuclear fuels. The company, which currently employs 23, plans to increase the size of its team to over 40 by the end of 2026.
The latest investment brings the total raised to date to over £28m and will support its mission is to become the world’s most impactful fusion company – from bolstering the supply of radiotherapeutics to save lives, to exploring clean, safe hybrid power sources and future space exploration.
Talmon Firestone, CEO and co-founder of Astral Systems, said: “We are rewriting how we approach fusion and, in doing so, redefining what it means to be a fusion company. This is evident in our novel technology and its near-term applications in modern medicine, as well as facilitating the search for hybrid energy. With this new funding we can accelerate our ambition of building a profitable, impactful fusion business, and build on the momentum of the past 12 months with the backing of our investors.”
Lee Lindley, who led the investment on behalf of Mercia Ventures, said: “We’re incredibly proud to have led this investment into Astral Systems are excited about working with Talmon and Tom. Astral’s technology has the potential to transform the manufacturing and supply of medical isotopes, which are vitally important for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Astral Systems is a perfect example of the bold ideas that Mercia likes to back.”