Cambridge Heavy Industries unveils tabletop fusion reactor prototype
Cambridge Heavy Industries, a stealthy Cambridge, Massachusetts startup, has built a benchtop fusion device that uses just two lasers to compress fuel.
Operating in a small lab near MIT, Cambridge Heavy Industries has created a modular fusion reactor small enough to sit on a bench, using only two primary lasers to drive ignition. The device delivers concentric laser rings that compress a flat fuel target, generating the pressure and heat needed for fusion. Its compact size enables 50 to 80 experimental shots per day, with results feeding AI models that optimize performance.
The startup raised $6.2 million in seed funding, backed by Azolla Ventures, Overlay, Neta Foundation, P3A, MassCEC and the Rothrock family. In the short term, the company plans to produce tritium, a scarce hydrogen isotope valued at about $30,000 per gram, to support the broader fusion industry. Over the next decade, Cambridge Heavy aims to enlarge the design into a plant roughly the footprint of two basketball courts to test commercial-scale energy output.
Why it matters
A tabletop fusion prototype could accelerate development of affordable fusion energy and secure critical tritium supplies.
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