Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Backs 21 Startups to Reinvent Power
Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy backs 21 startups spanning fusion, chips, hydrogen, minerals and climate adaptation as electricity demand heads for 3x.
Summary
On September 22, 2026, Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy named 21 early-stage startups for its sixth Fellows cohort. Managing partner Eric Toone said AI data centers represent a 10% electricity-demand bump after 30 years of broadly flat consumption, but economy-wide electrification could triple demand. Former Fellows leader Ashley Grosh has joined WovenEarth Ventures; senior director Benjamin Gaddy is acting director while Breakthrough Energy determines its next leadership step.
Borealis Fusion is pursuing widely available proton-boron fuel despite the extreme temperatures needed for ignition, while StarWarden is developing reactor heat-management technology. Bedrock Semiconductor, K1 Semiconductor and Vari Flux target semiconductor and data-center efficiency. K1’s processing method for gallium nitride and silicon carbide could reduce power-electronics costs by 50% or more.
AmHyTech and Ammovolt Energy are developing ammonia-based methods to use and transport hydrogen, addressing U.S. installed transport capacity that Toone described as close to zero. Other cohort technologies include molecular crop-disease sensing and robotic seabed mineral harvesting designed to minimize disturbance. Breakthrough Energy is also expanding climate-adaptation bets because decarbonization is taking longer and proving harder than expected.
Positives
- 21 early-stage startups joined Breakthrough Energy’s sixth Fellows cohort across fusion, agriculture, semiconductors, hydrogen, robotics, critical minerals and climate adaptation.
- K1 Semiconductor’s gallium nitride and silicon carbide processing could lower power-electronics costs by 50% or more.
- Borealis Fusion’s proton-boron approach could deliver substantially cheaper energy if it overcomes the fuel’s demanding ignition conditions.
- AmHyTech and Ammovolt Energy are using ammonia to address the lack of installed U.S. hydrogen transport capacity.
- Molecular sensing could detect crop disease, while robotic seabed harvesting aims to recover critical minerals with less disturbance.
Risks & concerns
- Economy-wide electrification could triple electricity demand, far exceeding the 10% increase associated with AI data centers.
- Proton-boron fusion requires exceptionally high ignition temperatures, making Borealis Fusion’s approach a long-shot technical bet.
- U.S. hydrogen transport infrastructure has close to zero installed capacity, limiting hydrogen’s usefulness despite its versatility.
- Decarbonization is progressing more slowly and proving harder than expected, increasing the need for climate-adaptation technologies.
- Breakthrough Energy has not finalized permanent Fellows leadership after Ashley Grosh left for WovenEarth Ventures.