FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Proxima Fusion, a Munich-based nuclear fusion technology company, said on Wednesday it has raised 130 million euros ($148.8 million) to help it move closer to its goal of developing a novel power plant.

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Worldwide, dozens of initiatives are exploring nuclear fusion, a nascent technology that seeks to harness the intense process that powers the sun to generate electricity.

Competition has sprung up between state and private companies, between governments in European countries, the United States and China, and between technology options, such as plasma confinement, used by Proxima, or the use of lasers.

Germany's new conservative-led government supports the technology within its energy agenda, putting Proxima and domestic sector rivals Gauss, Marvel and Focused Energy on the map.

LIST OF INVESTORS

Proxima listed venture capital firms Cherry Ventures of Berlin and Balderton Capital of London as lead finance partners, along with 10 other entities.

KEY QUOTES

"Fusion energy is entering a new era - moving from lab-based science to industrial-scale engineering," said Proxima CEO Francesco Sciortino. "This investment validates our approach and gives us the resources to deliver hardware that is essential to make clean fusion power a reality."

Cherry Ventures Founding Partner Filip Dames said: "Proxima Fusion combines Europe's scientific edge with commercial ambition. This is deep tech at its best, and a bold signal that Europe can lead on the world stage."

WHAT'S NEXT?

Proxima said it will use the funding to complete a major hardware demonstration while continuing to grow its teams in Munich, near Zurich in Switzerland, and at a campus near Oxford in Britain.

($1 = 0.8739 euros)

(Reporting by Vera Eckert; Editing by Jan Harvey)