Inertia

Inertia is a commercial fusion energy company building on the landmark 2022 National Ignition Facility breakthrough—the first demonstration of fusion ignition with net energy gain. Founded in Livermore, California, Inertia is commercializing laser-based inertial confinement fusion by engineering the world's most powerful laser system (a modular 10MJ array of 1,000 beamlines), mass-manufacturing 4.5mm fusion fuel targets at factory scale for under $1 each, and designing a 1.5GW grid-scale fusion power plant. The company was co-founded by NIF physicist Annie Kritcher, Stanford professor Mike Dunne, and serial entrepreneur Jeff Lawson, who serves as CEO. Inertia raised a $450 million Series A in February 2026, led by Bessemer Venture Partners with participation from Google and others, to advance construction of a pilot fusion facility.