Fusion startup picks old hot dog factory for new reactor

Realta Fusion is turning a former Oscar Mayer site into a fusion lab

Realta Fusion has spent the last two years searching for a home for its new research and development facility. It settled on the old Oscar Mayer factory in Madison, Wisconsin, a choice CEO and co-founder Kieran Furlong summed up neatly.

“From sausages to fusion,” Kieran Furlong, co-founder and CEO of Realta Fusion, told TechCrunch with a chuckle.

The new center, called Forge, is expected to create its first plasma in 2029, Furlong said.

Why Madison won

The former factory offered a few practical advantages. TechCrunch reports that the site has ample power, and it sits close to Realta’s existing headquarters in Madison.

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What sealed the deal, though, was political support. According to Furlong, Wisconsin’s governor and legislature backed the company’s plan in a bipartisan push to keep the project in-state.

“Wisconsin really decided they want to throw their weight behind fusion,” Furlong said.

That support comes as fusion companies draw fresh attention from investors and policymakers. TechCrunch notes that electricity demand is rising due to economy-wide electrification and growing data center buildouts. This year alone, fusion power startups have raised over $1.5 billion.

A $55 million incentive package

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

• A sales tax exemption for the fusion industry, signed into law in April, expected to save Realta an estimated $37.5 million
• Another $15 million in enterprise zone tax credits from the state
• $2.8 million in tax increment financing from the city of Madison

TechCrunch says the sales tax exemption had support from both Republicans and Democrats.

Deep Wisconsin roots

Realta has longstanding ties to Madison. The company was spun out of an experiment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which also produces a steady stream of plasma physicists.

There is already some local fusion presence, too. Shine, another fusion company, is based in a nearby suburb.

That makes Realta’s choice notable. Many fusion startups have clustered near a national laboratory or on the coasts, and another Wisconsin-born company, Type One Energy, moved to Tennessee in 2024.

Since then, Wisconsin appears to have taken a more aggressive stance on fusion. Furlong told TechCrunch there were also less tangible reasons to stay.

“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.”

Commercial ambitions

The new facility is part of a broader push toward a commercial plant. TechCrunch notes that Realta recently showed that it could convert energy from fusion reactions directly into electricity, which could simplify the route to market.

Now the company is pairing that technical progress with a major physical expansion — inside a former meatpacking site that Wisconsin hopes can help anchor a new fusion hub.