BeAble Capital, the fund led by Almudena Trigo, has made an initial investment of €1.5 million in Smart Fusion Energy, aimed at the development and transfer of advanced technologies in the field of commercial nuclear fusion.
Smart Fusion Energy is a spin-off from the University of Seville, specifically from the Plasma Science and Fusion Technology Laboratory (PSFT), and is led by researchers Manuel García Muñoz and Eleonora Viezzer, both professors in the university’s Department of Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics. The company was created with the goal of accelerating the arrival of commercial nuclear fusion through compact, modular and efficient solutions, and of developing the most compact and efficient fusion reactors possible, positioning itself as one of the most promising projects in the global race to turn fusion into a clean, safe, sustainable and virtually inexhaustible energy source, according to BeAble Capital.
The technology behind the spin-off is supported by a strong scientific and financial foundation, with more than €50 million in international competitive funding, including participation in four projects funded by the European Research Council (ERC), one of Europe’s leading instruments for scientific excellence. This support further strengthens the project’s technological base and its potential for scaling towards industrial applications.
The company builds on decades of experience from its founders in research, design, construction and operation of magnetic confinement devices, including their work at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Germany and collaborations with leading international fusion research centres. In addition, the incorporation of the company includes institutional participation from the University of Seville through the University of Seville Research Foundation (FIUS), which holds a stake in the new technology subsidiary.
The core technology of Smart Fusion Energy is the SMART reactor, a tokamak-type device developed at the university by the founding team. BeAble Capital’s investment will serve as seed capital to finance the first phase of the company’s industrial development.
The company’s technological approach is based on a proprietary architecture that combines compact high-field tokamaks, the integration of high-temperature superconducting materials, and the use of plasma configurations with negative triangularity. This combination aims to improve system efficiency, reduce cost per installed megawatt, shorten plant construction timelines, and enhance fusion’s competitiveness compared to other power generation technologies.
Nuclear fusion technology offers significant advantages over other energy sources, as it provides stable, non-intermittent supply, requires a smaller industrial footprint, and does not generate long-lived radioactive waste. Its fuel, based on a mixture of deuterium and tritium, offers extremely high energy density: one kilogram of this fuel can be equivalent to the energy produced by 1,000 tonnes of fossil fuels.
However, the sector still faces the technical challenge of achieving net usable energy output, with tokamak-type reactors emerging as one of the most advanced pathways toward large-scale commercial viability.
Smart Fusion Energy is led by Eleonora Viezzer and Manuel García Muñoz, who combine their academic roles with the company’s management. Both emphasise the transformative potential of nuclear fusion and highlight that the focus on compact reactors aims to accelerate the arrival of clean, safe and accessible energy, translating decades of cutting-edge research into a real industrial solution.
With this transaction, BeAble Capital reinforces its commitment to high-impact deep-tech technologies, positioning Smart Fusion Energy as one of the most significant emerging players in the international development of fusion energy.
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