Carrie von Muench is the COO and Co-Founder of Pacific Fusion, a company building the first pulser-driven inertial fusion system designed for net facility gain. Fusion has long promised limitless, carbon-free, dispatchable power, but only recently have breakthroughs—from ignition at the National Ignition Facility to major advances at Sandia and new high-efficiency pulse-power technology—shifted fusion from scientific aspiration to solvable engineering challenge.

The Pacific Fusion founding team came together after these 2022 milestones revealed a credible, engineering-driven path to fusion energy. Backed by a landmark $900M Series A led by General Catalyst, the company is developing a highly modular system that can be mass-manufactured using accessible materials and domestically sourced supply chains. In this episode, Carrie explains why these breakthroughs matter, how the modular pulser architecture works, why New Mexico became home for the world’s largest pulse-power facility, and how fusion could reshape global energy, industry, and security. MCJ is proud to participate in Pacific Fusion’s Series A through our venture funds. 

Episode recorded on Nov 19, 2025 (Published on Dec 9, 2025)

In this episode, we cover: 

• [13:28] Pacific Fusion’s origins and founding team
• [17:54] The company’s unique financing structure
• [18:57] Why traditional venture models fail for fusion
• [25:42] Pacific Fusion’s progress to date
• [27:23] What a pulsed magnetic fusion system looks like
• [29:15] The path from modular components to full-scale system
• [33:20] Looking ahead at Pacific Fusion’s 2026 milestones
• [35:04] Why they’re building in Albuquerque, New Mexico
• [41:29] The global race with China to commercialize fusion
• [46:24] The fusion supply chain

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant