Key facts
- Jeff Lawson, co-founder of Twilio, is now co-founder and CEO of Inertia, a fusion power company.
- Inertia announced a $450 million Series A funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
- The company is developing laser systems and mass manufacturing of fusion fuel targets.
- Inertia opened a 50,000-square-foot headquarters in Livermore, California.
- Lawson will discuss his transition from software to deep tech at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026.
Jeff Lawson, the co-founder of Twilio, is embarking on a new venture called Inertia, aiming to bring fusion power to the grid. After scaling Twilio into a public company with over $4 billion in revenue and 300,000 customers, Lawson is shifting his focus to the capital-intensive deep tech sector.
Inertia announced a $450 million Series A funding round in February, led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from GV and other investors. This funding is intended to support the development of powerful laser systems and the mass manufacture of fusion fuel targets, crucial steps for transitioning fusion science into grid-scale energy.
The company has established a physical presence, opening a 50,000-square-foot headquarters in Livermore, California, dedicated to fuel-target manufacturing processes and laser technologies. Inertia has also recruited leaders from companies such as Apple, Corning, and Waymo to bolster its manufacturing and supply-chain capabilities.
Lawson, whose prior experience includes early product leadership at Amazon Web Services and founding CTO of StubHub, will share insights on this transition at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. His fireside chat, titled “How Twilio’s Founder Is Tackling the Power Problem,” will explore how his entrepreneurial experience in software can be applied to a deep tech company with significant engineering and manufacturing challenges.