Form Energy, a US-based grid battery spinout of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has obtained more than $70m of series C funding from undisclosed investors, Reuters reported on Friday.
Mateo Jaramillio, CEO of Form Energy, said he expected to be able to reveal more details over coming weeks.
Founded in 2017, Form Energy is developing sulfur-based battery storage for renewable electricity sources such as wind and solar which fluctuate more than conventional power plants owing to changes in wind strength and solar radiation.
Form Energy’s batteries are rumoured to discharge at slow speeds relative to their capacity but offer 150 hours of storage compared to four hours for lithium-ion grid storage products, according to PV Magazine.
The idea is to help replace oil and gas-based power plants that run during times of sparse customer demand to provide a minimum level of electricity, known in industry parlance as the baseload.
Form Energy grew from research at MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering pioneered by Yet-Ming Chiang, a professor at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and his former graduate student William Woodford.
The spinout last closed a $40m series B round in August 2019 led by Eni Next, the corporate venturing arm of energy supplier Eni, and backed by The Engine, the MIT-affiliated incubator and venture fund, in addition to Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Capricorn Investment Group, Prelude Ventures and Macquarie Capital.
The Engine already backed a $9m two-tranche series A round for Form Energy in 2018 alongside oil producer Saudi Aramco, Breakthrough, Prelude and Macquarie. Form Energy raised $7.4m of the series A total that February before adding a $1.6m extension three months later, according to regulatory filings.
The Engine had previously injected $2m in seed capital in 2017.

Form Energy, a US-based grid-scale battery developer backed by corporates Saudi Aramco and Eni, has raised more than $70m of series C funding from undisclosed investors, Reuters reported on Friday.

Founded in 2017, Form Energy is developing sulphur-based battery storage systems for renewable forms of electricity such as wind and solar that fluctuate more than conventional power plants due to changes in weather.

The aqueous air batteries are designed to store energy for up to 150 hours, according to Form Energy, potentially representing a far longer duration than the lithium-ion batteries currently used in storage systems.

The company closed a $40m series B round in August 2019 led by renewable power producer Eni’s corporate venturing arm, Eni Next, and backed by The Engine, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Capricorn Investment Group, Prelude Ventures and Macquarie Capital.

Oil and gas supplier Saudi Aramco had joined The Engine, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Prelude Ventures and Macquarie Capital in a $9m series A round for Form Energy that closed in May 2018, following $2m in seed capital from The Engine the previous year.

The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.