Thea Energy

Stellarator-based fusion power
Last updated:
January 5, 2026
Company details
HQ
Kearny, NJ
HEADCOUNT
25-99
ORG TYPE
Startup
SECTOR
Energy & Climate
About the company
Thea Energy is a fusion technology company working on a stellarator-based approach to delivering carbon-free energy at scale. The company focuses on planar, programmable magnet arrays made with high-temperature superconductors, paired with software controls, to simplify stellarator hardware. Thea Energy’s near-term system is described as “Eos,” positioned as an integrated stellarator neutron-source system to de-risk a future fusion power plant concept (“Helios”). Thea Energy was founded in 2022 as a spin-out connected to Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Princeton University.
Locations and presence
Thea Energy lists a headquarters and lab in Kearny, New Jersey, plus an office presence in Princeton, New Jersey. Most open roles and early-career internships are listed as on-site in Kearny, NJ, including internship postings that specify an on-site weekly expectation.
Palpable Score
63.0
/ 100
Thea Energy is a credible early-career option for students in relevant STEM fields because Thea Energy runs paid spring and summer internships with clearly described technical tracks. Thea Energy is also unusually clear on pay ranges for many roles, including hourly internship pay. The biggest constraints are limited public detail on interview stages and feedback, plus very little published evidence on early-career progression and retention outcomes.
Pillar 1: Early-career access

Score

14.5
/ 20
  • The company runs paid Spring 2026 and Summer 2026 internship programmes with a single application covering multiple technical tracks (mechanical, manufacturing, magnet, test, fusion technology, and plasma physics).
  • Thea Energy lists internship structures in practical terms, including 12–16 week summer placements and flexible school-year scheduling tied to academic timetables.
  • The company does not currently show clear “new grad” or “junior” full-time roles on the main job board, so entry-level access looks concentrated in internships rather than first-job hiring.

Pillar 2: Hiring fairness and transparency

Score

11.0
/ 20
  • The company includes upfront compensation information in postings, including hourly pay bands for interns and salary ranges for full-time engineering roles.
  • Thea Energy discloses process-related practices like the use of AI tools to support parts of application review, while stating that final decisions are made by humans.
  • The company does not publish a candidate-facing interview process with stages, timelines, or feedback expectations, which limits transparency for first-time candidates trying to prepare.

Pillar 3: Learning and support

Score

12.5
/ 20
  • The company’s internship postings outline hands-on work scopes (for example magnet testing, cryogenic and vacuum systems, instrumentation, and control systems), which points to learning through real deliverables rather than shadowing.
  • Thea Energy’s senior engineering postings explicitly include mentoring junior engineers as part of the role, which signals that coaching is expected in at least some teams.
  • The company describes “continual professional development opportunities” in the careers materials, but Thea Energy does not publish a specific onboarding plan, mentor programme, or training curriculum for early-career hires.

Pillar 4: Pay fairness and stability

Score

16.0
/ 20
  • The company sets clear paid internship terms, including published hourly ranges for undergraduate and post-grad interns.
  • Thea Energy posts salary ranges on multiple full-time roles and pairs those ranges with equity language (stock options) and core benefits.
  • The company lists stability-oriented benefits like health coverage, paid parental leave, 401k-style retirement support, and paid time off, but Thea Energy does not consistently publish full benefit detail inside every posting (for example, bonus policy or healthcare cost splits).

Pillar 5: Early-career outcomes

Score

9.0
/ 20
  • The company has publicly stated plans to double the workforce within a year, which can create scope growth opportunities for early hires, but the company does not connect that growth to specific early-career promotion paths.
  • Thea Energy’s LinkedIn presence shows a relatively small but growing team size and a widening set of specialised roles, which suggests internal role expansion, but does not confirm early-career progression outcomes.
  • The company does not publish early-career outcomes such as intern-to-offer conversion, retention, time-to-promotion, or structured progression examples, and publicly accessible review and interview evidence is too thin to treat as a reliable outcomes signal.