o Mass. Company Raises $863M For Virginia Fusion Power Plant
o Bethesda-Based NWBio to Acquire Advent BioServices
o DC-Based Nonprofit Internet2 Tabs Tripti Sinha as President, CEO
o Richmond-Based Activation Capital Hires Michael Steele as Pres, CEO
o Briefly Noted: SixMap, Lumelight, IonQ, Agile Defense
Mass. Company Raises $863M to Develop Virginia Fusion Power Plant
Devens, Mass. – Amid a surge in energy needs for AI data centers, Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), a private fusion energy company relying on high-temperature superconducting magnets, said it has raised $863 million in a new round of funding, which the company will use to continue developing the first grid-scale fusion power plant in Chesterfield County, Va. The company is aiming to have the plant, which it is calling ARC, connected to the electric grid in the early 2030s, bolstered by partnerships with Dominion Energy and Google. Google is an investor in CFS, and also has agreed to buy half the power produced at the plant. The company said it envisions the Virginia plant – the first of what it hopes will be “thousands” – to provide the grid with about 400 megawatts of zero-carbon power at a time when demand for power has accelerated with increased use of AI and data centers.
Bethesda-Based NWBio to Acquire Advent BioServices
Bethesda, Md. – Northwest Biotherapeutics (NWBio), a Bethesda-based biotechnology company developing personalized immune therapies for solid tumor cancers, said it will acquire UK-based Advent BioServices from current owner Toucan Holdings. The companies had already been working together as part of a contract services agreement. Now, NWBio will essentially bring its manufacturing and product development operations in-house, with Advent becoming a wholly owned subsidiary. The deal will include a payment of about $1.9 million, as well as the net amount of accounts payable due from NWBio to Advent for services already performed by Advent.
"We believe this is an opportune time to join forces under one roof, integrating our teams, streamlining our processes, increasing our efficiency and preparing for potential substantial scale-up of our capacity,” said Linda Powers, the CEO of NWBio.
DC-Based Nonprofit Internet2 Tabs Tripti Sinha as President and CEO
Washington, DC – Internet2, a DC-based nonprofit that helps support member organizations’ educational, research and community service missions, has named Tripti Sinha as its new president and CEO. She will succeed Howard Pfeffer, effective October 15. Sinha currently serves as CTO at the University of Maryland, where she heads the Advanced Cyberinfrastructure and Internet Global Services unit in the Division of IT, and is executive director of a multi-state regional research and education network called the Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (MAX).
Richmond-Based Activation Capital Hires Michael Steele as Pres, CEO
Richmond, Va. – Activation Capital, a Richmond-based organization that supports biotechnology entrepreneurs and startups in Virginia, has named Michael Steele as its new president and CEO. Steele succeeds Robert Ward, who has served as interim CEO since mid-2024. Steele previously held senior leadership positions at companies including Biocartis, Chembio Diagnostics, SeraCare Life Sciences and Serologicals. Activation Capital, also known as the Virginia Biotechnology Research Partnership Authority, has been quite busy over the past year, including launching the Frontier BioHealth accelerator and showcase and welcoming its inaugural cohort of 10 startups.
Briefly Noted
(Columbia, Md.) Columbia-based SixMap, developer of a preemptive exposure management platform designed to help clients manage cyber risk, has named four new executives. New hires include: Marie Ketner as vice president of product, Edgardo Vega as vice president of engineering, Daniel Pigeon as director of product marketing and Larry Slusser as vice president of strategy.
(Pikesville, Md.) Pikesville-based Lumelight, a provider of technology and services designed to help employers and health plans manage benefits, has named Jesse King as its COO. King most recently served as the senior vice president of implementation at Paycor, and earlier was the director of operations at ProFill Holdings.
(College Park, Md.) College Park-based IonQ, a developer of quantum computing and quantum networking technologies, has named Bill Teuber Jr. and Jim Frankola to its board of directors. Teuber currently serves as senior operating principal at Bridge Growth Partners, a private equity firm focused on technology, and Frankola most recently served as the CFO of Cloudera,
(McLean, Va.) McLean-based Agile Defense, a provider of digital transformation, cybersecurity, and data analytics services, has named Ed Drolet as a vice president and customer executive. Drolet previously supported operations across the Air Force, Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), combatant commands and other DoD organizations.