Matt Aubuchon - Zap Energy | Fusion Business Landscape 2025

Matt Aubuchon ↗

Director of Pulsed Power Component Development · Zap Energy

Matt Aubuchon is the Director of Pulsed Power Component Development at Zap Energy, where he leads the team developing Zap's pulsed power components for their sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch fusion reactor. Previously, he worked at EPC Power Corp, helping grow the company from a 35-person San Diego startup to a 200+ person international manufacturing company with locations in Greenville SC, Raleigh NC, and Helsinki Finland. Matt is based in San Diego and joined Zap Energy in 2023.

Speaking events

1

DTW editions

1

Published talks

1

Zap Energy ↗

Zap Energy builds fusion energy technology that confines and compresses plasma using a method without costly magnetic coils, aiming for a compact and scalable system with reduced capital needs relative to traditional approaches. The company has produced verified fusion plasmas continuously since 2018 and targets scientific energy breakeven on its FuZE-Q plasma device platform. It operates as Zap Energy, Inc., with co-founders Benj Conway as CEO, Brian A. Nelson as Chief Technology Officer, and Uri Shumlak as Chief Science Officer. Investor directors include Aaron Schildkrout and Clay Dumas. The technology focuses on fusion power generation to support commercial electricity production. Zap Energy has raised over $200 million in funding, including a $160 million Series D round in 2023, and maintains operations toward net energy gain.

Events

1

Talks presented

1

Registrations reached

390

Hyperstition Incorporated ↗

Science Fiction as a Service.

Events

47

Talks hosted

10

Registrations reached

13,413

Gigascale Capital ↗

Gigascale Capital backs early-stage companies rebuilding the physical economy for climate impact. Founded in 2023 by former Meta CTO Mike Schroepfer, Victoria Beasley, and Evaline Tsai, the firm has invested in more than 25 companies across clean energy, advanced manufacturing, grid infrastructure, and physical AI. Some decarbonize directly. Others build the enabling layers that make physical systems faster and cheaper to design, build, and deploy. In both cases, climate impact follows from better performance.

Events

2

Talks supported

10

Registrations reached

832

Lowercarbon Capital ↗

Lowercarbon Capital is a climate-focused venture capital firm founded in 2018 by renowned investor Chris Sacca (formerly of Lowercase Capital, with early bets on Uber and Twitter) and his partners, dedicated to backing companies that drastically reduce CO₂ emissions, remove carbon from the atmosphere, and develop technologies to mitigate climate impacts. With over $2 billion in assets under management, it invests primarily in early-stage and growth-stage startups across sectors like clean energy, carbon removal, sustainable materials, food/agriculture, transportation, and advanced manufacturing. The firm has built a large portfolio of over 200 companies, including unicorns such as Crusoe (sustainable compute infrastructure), Watershed (enterprise carbon management), and Solugen (bio-based chemicals), alongside notable investments in frontier tech like Zap Energy (fusion), Heirloom and Avalanche Energy (carbon removal and fusion), Sublime Systems (low-carbon cement), and Crux (clean energy tax credits marketplace). Lowercarbon stands out for its aggressive, founder-friendly approach—providing hands-on support, hustling for portfolio success, and funding high-risk research—while emphasizing that profitable, superior technologies are key to scaling climate solutions and "unf**king the planet."

Events

5

Talks supported

10

Registrations reached

1,932