Deutelio

About Deutelio

Deutelio is an Italian-Swiss startup founded in 2022 by brothers Francesco and Filippo Elio, with Francesco serving as CEO. The company is focused on developing a commercial path to fusion energy by pioneering an alternative magnetic confinement approach known as the Polomac configuration. This method utilizes a poloidal magnetic field to contain plasma, a system originally explored in the 1980s and noted for its high efficiency, with a potential confinement efficiency of 70-80% compared to the 3-5% of more common Tokamak models.

Deutelio's innovation revives the Polomac concept by incorporating proprietary magnetic tunnels. These tunnels are designed to power, cool, and support the central dipole coils, overcoming a key limitation that caused previous research on poloidal confinement to be abandoned. The company's technology aims to enable the deuterium-deuterium fusion reaction, which avoids the need to produce tritium, a significant challenge in other fusion approaches. The team includes experts with backgrounds in major fusion research lines like Tokamak, Stellarator, and RFX, as well as former EURATOM professionals with experience on the ITER project.

Based in Grono, Switzerland, Deutelio's strategy involves a phased development. The initial step is to build a small, refrigerator-sized prototype to validate and fine-tune the Polomac's magnetic tunnels using hydrogen. Following this, the company plans to design and sell small heat generators operating with deuterium, and ultimately develop and commercialize electrical generation plants featuring superconducting magnets. In 2024, the company gained significant visibility by placing 4th at the Boldbrain Startup Challenge, which helped strengthen its mission within the Swiss innovation ecosystem.