Dr Mikhail Gryaznevich and Alan Sykes, who co-founded Tokamak Solutions with Dr David Kingham, former managing director of Oxford Innovation, in 2009, aim to create a compact but powerful generator which produces neutrons that can be used in nuclear fusion.

At present, scientists around the world are designing methods to harness nuclear fusion, as opposed to fission, as an energy source but the projects typically involve the construction of large, multi-billion pound facilities.

Oxfordshire-based Tokamak Solutions has filed patent applications for its “tokamak” device and plans to use the fundraising to complete the design, according to a statement from the business.

Investors include Sir Martin and Lady Audrey Wood, the Rainbow Seed Fund, Oxford Instruments and members of the Oxford Early Investments network.

In addition to energy generation, applications for the new technology range from the clean-up of nuclear waste, which could make safe nuclear power a reality, to the production of medical isotopes used in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer and, in the longer term, as part of a zero carbon method for large scale hydrogen production.

The funding follows a recent €110,000 (£92,600) contract from international research and engineering project, ITER, to advise on diagnostics for measuring neutron emission and fusion power.

Kingham, chief executive of Tokamak Solutions, comments, ‘Our initial focus is on the plasma physics and neutron research markets and our new group of investors has already provided significant added value in addition to their investment.’