SHINE Technologies has completed a $70 million funding round — the largest investment deal of the year so far in Wisconsin.
The Janesville-based company is developing fusion technologies for applications in various industries, including health care, aerospace and more. Ultimately, SHINE aims to achieve fusion energy generation in the final phase of its four-part business development strategy.
It’s currently advancing the second phase of that plan, which involves producing medical isotopes for cancer treatment. SHINE’s Cassiopeia lutetium-177 production facility is expected to come online by the end of the year, according to yesterday’s release. Lu-177 is a radioactive material used to kill cancer cells through targeted therapies.
“We’re now ramping our production of Lu-177 to get life-saving medicine to cancer patients more quickly,” CEO and founder Greg Piefer said in a statement. “It’s the latest use of our technology to improve the world, and adds to our neutron inspection and radiation effects testing businesses, which are helping ensure people are safe through applications in aerospace, space and defense.”
The company yesterday announced the $70 million financing round was led by existing investors, including UK-based Baillie Gifford and Boston’s Fidelity Management & Research Company, as well as new institutional investors that weren’t named. The money will be used to complete commercialization and scaling up “near-term applications” of fusion technology, the release shows.
“This financing is expected to carry us through several major inflection points, including profitability as we continue to refine fusion technology to solve today’s problems in medicine, manufacturing, energy and beyond,” Piefer said.
Joe Kremer, director of the Wisconsin Technology Council’s Investor Networks, notes the round is more than twice as large as the next biggest so far this year — a $29 million deal from Type One Energy. This Madison company is also targeting the fusion technology market.
“Shine’s raise puts total Wisconsin funding to more than $260 million,” Kremer told WisBusiness.com in an email. “It is a large raise and would have been considered a mega-deal a few years ago, but thanks to the expanding early stage market in Wisconsin, this is a “large” deal from my standpoint.”
The business has now raised more than $750 million, according to a company spokesperson.
See a recent story on 2023 investment in Wisconsin: https://www.wisbusiness.com/2023/while-2023-investment-falters-one-expert-optimistic-about-q4-activity/
–By Alex Moe
