Helion's unorthodox approach to fusion power and relative secrecy has earned it plenty of fans — and critics. But don’t count its investors among the naysayers.

Building a working nuclear fusion reactor has proven to be a daunting challenge even for multiple wealthy nations, as we've seen with the much-delayed ITER project. However, a private start-up called Helion thinks it can build one and start supplying energy by 2028 by taking a different approach than other reactors.

Microsoft-backed startup now valued at $5.4B Fusion energy startup Helion has yet to prove it can generate electricity, but that hasn't stopped investors from dumping another $425 million into the venture.

According to TechCrunch, Helion will use its $425 million funding round to upgrade its manufacturing capabilities. The company currently relies on external suppliers to provide it with capacitors, a type of energy storage device. Helion hopes that moving capacitor manufacturing in-house will enable it to significantly speed up production.

A nuclear fusion startup backed by OpenAI founder Sam Altman has raised nearly half a billion dollars to build what it hopes to be the world’s first power plant using the next-generation energy source.