East X Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
East X Ventures is a London-based deep-tech venture capital firm and the venture arm of East X, a quantitative systematic commodity investment firm operating across global commodities markets. The firm's stated mission is to back "the physical infrastructure of the next economy" -- founders turning frontier science into commercial reality. It invests through two vehicles: Starmaker One, a flagship fund with a focused thesis on fusion energy (investing across the systems and supply chain that turn fusion physics into deployable power -- magnets, lasers, fuel and plasma technologies), and East Innovate, an affiliated investment company spanning the wider deep-tech stack -- advanced manufacturing, supply chains, AI and next-generation power. Starmaker One was launched in April 2025 as the UK's first private fusion investment fund, targeting roughly GBP100M with a GBP20M cornerstone investment from the UK government, with East X Ventures acting as fund manager.
Stage Focus
The firm's own site positions it as investing Seed through Series B, though its actual portfolio spans a wider range in practice -- from Pre-Seed (Ascension, Astut) through Seed and Series A to later follow-on rounds at Series C (Tokamak Energy, First Light Fusion) and Series E+ (TAE), reflecting continued participation in existing portfolio companies as they scale.
Check Size
Exact check sizes are not disclosed publicly. Given the fund's roughly GBP100M target size, Seed-to-Series-B focus, and a portfolio of 23 companies to date, checks likely span roughly $1M-$15M, but this is an inference rather than a confirmed figure.
Lead Tendency
East X Ventures both leads and co-invests. It co-led Tokamak Energy's $125M round (with Lingotto Investment Management) in November 2024, and acts as fund manager for Starmaker One, which led First Light Fusion's GBP25M first close alongside UKAEA. It also appears as a participant alongside other investors in larger syndicated rounds, such as Proxima Fusion's EUR411M round (led by XTX Ventures, with East X Ventures, RWE and Google also investing).
Recent Activity
The firm has been active through mid-2026: it backed Proxima Fusion's EUR411M raise (July 2026, valuing the stellarator company at EUR2.4B and making it Europe's best-funded fusion company), Luffy AI's EUR9.4M Series A (July 2026) for neuroplastic AI in real-time adaptive control, and Mach42's GBP7M pre-Series A (July 2026) for AI-powered analog circuit simulation. Portfolio companies have continued to hit milestones through August 2026, including REGENT's $240M Series B for Seaglider manufacturing and Tokamak Energy being named Magnet Systems Partner for the UK's STEP Fusion programme (a GBP70M contract).
Portfolio Highlights
Across Starmaker One and East Innovate, East X Ventures has backed 23 companies that have collectively raised over $2B (Starmaker One portfolio) and $1.9B (East Innovate portfolio). Notable names include Tokamak Energy (HTS magnet fusion technology, Series-C), Proxima Fusion (stellarators, Series-A, EUR2.4B valuation), First Light Fusion (inertial confinement fusion, Series-C), Figure AI (humanoid robotics, reported at a $39B valuation in September 2025), Regent Craft (Seaglider maritime mobility, Series-B), TAE (neutral beam fusion and cancer-treatment systems), Type One Energy (stellarator fusion) and Nu Quantum (quantum networking infrastructure). The firm also backs alternative-protein companies including Hoxton Farms, Uncommon and Unicorn Bio.
Team
- Theodore Mollinger, General Partner
- Nathan Mosher, General Partner
- Curran Kalha PhD, Investor
- Miriam Blastiak, IR & Fundraising
- Tom Cooper-Jones, Strategic Finance
- Michael Floyd, Finance Manager
The investment team is led jointly by two General Partners (Mollinger and Mosher) alongside an investor (Kalha), suggesting a small-partnership decision-making structure rather than a solo-GP model.
Decision Process
With two co-equal General Partners plus a dedicated investor role, decisions appear to run through a small investment partnership rather than a single decision-maker or a large investment committee.
Founder Preferences
The firm's language consistently emphasizes "founders turning frontier science into a commercial reality" and teams that are "fusion-approach agnostic" -- it backs the strongest engineering teams regardless of their specific technical path, provided the underlying physics or science is proven and the company is in the process of being built out. It favors deep technical founding teams tackling capital-intensive, engineering-heavy problems (fusion, advanced manufacturing, robotics, quantum) rather than software-only or consumer plays.
Geographic Focus
The portfolio spans Europe (the clear majority, especially UK-based fusion and deep-tech companies), North America (Figure AI, Regent Craft, TAE, Type One Energy, Hark) and Asia (nT-Tao). The firm itself is headquartered in London.