ArcelorMittal led a series D round for the rechargeable battery developer spun out of MIT.

Form Energy, a US-based grid-scale battery developer spun out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), secured $200m yesterday in a series D round led by $25m from steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal’s XCarb innovation fund. Founded in 2017 as Baseload Renewables, Form Energy develops low-cost battery systems that can store wind and solar energy from renewable energy systems for a long duration. The company has produced a rechargeable iron-air battery capable of delivering electricity for 100 hours at costs competitive with conventional power plants and at less than one-tenth the cost of lithium-ion batteries. As part of the deal, ArcelorMittal and Form Energy have signed a joint development agreement to further boost the latter’s iron battery production. The other participants in the round were not disclosed. Form Energy raised $76m in a series C round led by Coatue Management in November 2020 that also featured MIT-affiliated venture fund and incubator The Engine. Renewable power producer Eni’s corporate venturing arm, Eni Next, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Prelude Ventures, Capricorn Investment Group, Macquarie Capital, Energy Impact Partners, NGP Energy Technology Partners III and Temasek also contributed. Form Energy had previously collected $40m in an August 2019 series B round backed by The Engine. Eni Next led that round, which also attracted Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Capricorn Investment Group, Prelude Ventures and Macquarie Capital. The Engine had already invested in the company’s $9m series A round, which closed in 2018, alongside oil and gas supplier Saudi Aramco, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Prelude Ventures and Macquarie Capital. This followed a $2m injection of seed capital by The Engine the previous year. – A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.

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