Fusion startup Realta chooses Wisconsin for new research facility

Realta Fusion has chosen the site of Madison, Wisconsin’s former Oscar Meyer factory to build Forge, its new research and development facility, after spending the last two years looking for somewhere to build. Forge will create its first plasma in 2029, according to Kieran Furlong, Realta Fusion’s co-founder and CEO. “From sausages to fusion,” Furlong said. Realta recently demonstrated it could convert energy from fusion reactions directly into electricity, potentially easing the path to a commercial power plant.

Bipartisan support from Wisconsin’s governor and legislature pushed the startup to stay in the state. “Wisconsin really decided they want to throw their weight behind fusion,” Furlong said. That decision bucks a trend: Type One Energy, another Wisconsin-grown fusion startup, decamped to Tennessee in 2024, and most fusion startups have clustered near national laboratories or on the coasts rather than staying put.

Realta Fusion will receive an estimated $55 million in incentives from the state of Wisconsin and the city of Madison. The package breaks down as:

• An estimated $37.5 million in savings from a sales tax exemption for the fusion industry, signed into law in April.
• $15 million in enterprise zone tax credits from the state of Wisconsin.
• $2.8 million in tax increment financing — local public redevelopment funding — from the city of Madison.

Furlong said the benefits of staying go beyond the incentive figures. “It’s also advantageous to be the state champion,” he said. “We get the attention of people who matter, who can help us, who want to see Realta succeed and want to see Wisconsin be a major hub for fusion.” The remark comes as fusion power startups have raised over $1.5 billion this year alone, underscoring the stakes of Wisconsin’s push to keep Realta and its manufacturing on home turf.

Why it matters

Realta Fusion’s decision shows how aggressive local tax incentives can counter the pull of coastal tech hubs and national laboratories, keeping high-tech fusion manufacturing rooted in the US Midwest rather than following the path Type One Energy took to Tennessee.