# Benj Conway

> Benj Conway is the British entrepreneur, investor and former diplomat who co-founded Zap Energy in 2017. After studying medicine at Cambridge and Oxford, working for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office across Asia and the Middle East, and investing in frontier markets through InFrontier, he brought a commercial lens to a University of Washington fusion concept. He led Zap as CEO through major technical milestones and more than $330 million in funding, then became president in April 2026 to focus on strategy, partnerships and long-term technology development as the company expanded from fusion into an integrated fission-and-fusion platform.

- **Role:** President and Co-Founder at Zap Energy
- **Organizations:** Zap Energy, InFrontier, British Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- **Nationality:** British
- **Education:** Medicine, first-class result, Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge, Medicine, University College, University of Oxford
- **Known for:** Co-founded Zap Energy in 2017 and led it as CEO through its growth into a roughly 150-person nuclear technology company., Helped raise more than $330 million for Zap Energy by October 2024, including a $160 million Series C and $130 million Series D., Helped turn University of Washington Z-pinch research into a commercial development program spanning plasma science, pulsed power, liquid metals and pilot-plant design.

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Worked for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office across Asia and the Middle East, spending much of roughly a decade posted overseas.
- **2012** — Co-founded frontier-market private equity firm InFrontier, which later raised a fund focused on small and medium-sized businesses in Afghanistan.
- **2017** — Co-founded Zap Energy with plasma scientist Uri Shumlak and fusion technologist Brian A. Nelson to commercialize sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch research.
- **2018** — Zap began generating verified fusion plasmas as it developed the FuZE device series.
- **2022** — Led Zap as it announced first plasmas in FuZE-Q and raised a $160 million Series C.
- **2024** — As CEO, announced FuZE measurements of 1-3 keV electron temperatures and a $130 million Series D that took total funding beyond $330 million.
- **2025** — Zap's Century platform completed a DOE-certified milestone of 1,080 plasma shots over three hours without failure.
- **2026** — Transitioned from CEO to president, focusing on strategy, partnerships and long-term technology development as Zap adopted an integrated fission-and-fusion strategy.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Zap Energy in 2017 and led it as CEO through its growth into a roughly 150-person nuclear technology company.
- Helped raise more than $330 million for Zap Energy by October 2024, including a $160 million Series C and $130 million Series D.
- Helped turn University of Washington Z-pinch research into a commercial development program spanning plasma science, pulsed power, liquid metals and pilot-plant design.
- Led Zap when peer-reviewed FuZE measurements showed 1-3 keV electron temperatures, equivalent to as much as 37 million degrees Celsius.
- Led Zap when its Century platform became the first functional integration of repetitive pulsed power, flowing liquid-metal walls and electrode-protection technology in its development program.
- Co-founded InFrontier, a private equity firm that invested in frontier markets including Afghanistan.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Appeared in London as Zap Energy's president at the World Nuclear Symposium as the company promoted its integrated nuclear strategy.
- **2026-05** — Zap received U.S. Department of Energy approval for its preconceptual Z-pinch fusion pilot plant design, describing an approximately 50 MW net-electric module.
- **2026-04** — Transitioned from CEO to president of Zap Energy; his remit became strategy, partnerships and long-term technology development as Zabrina Johal became CEO.
- **2025-09** — Zap reported Century operations at one plasma shot every five seconds and 39 kW delivered to the cables leading to the chamber; Conway emphasized that fusion is a systems-integration problem.
- **2025-02** — The Department of Energy certified Zap's first milestone under its Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program after a three-hour, 1,080-shot Century run.

## Links

- Website: https://www.zapenergy.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjconway
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Zap_Energy

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/benj-conway
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-27