Form Energy, a Somerville-based developer of utility-scale battery technology, announced a $750 million equity funding round last week aimed at supporting the expansion of its manufacturing facility in Weirton, West Virginia. The company is experiencing increased demand for its long-duration energy storage systems and plans to scale up production to meet customer orders.
In conjunction with the funding announcement, Form Energy disclosed several changes to its executive leadership team. Navneet Govil has been appointed chief financial officer, replacing Charlotte Beard, who departed last year. Govil previously worked at SoftBank Investment Advisers. Additionally, Wes Sloan joined the company as chief operating officer, taking over operational responsibilities from Form president Ted Wiley. Sloan comes to Form Energy from Panasonic Energy Corp. of North America.
The company’s executive team is now distributed across its main sites in Somerville, Weirton, and Berkeley, California. CEO Mateo Jaramillo and COO Sloan are primarily based in West Virginia to oversee production growth, while Govil will operate from the Berkeley office. The Somerville leadership group continues to include Wiley, chief technology officer Billy Woodford, chief science officer Yet-Ming Chiang, and chief digital officer Marco Ferrara. Several leaders, including Woodford, Wiley, and Jaramillo, rotate among all three locations as part of the company’s integrated management approach.
Form Energy aims to accelerate the deployment of its innovative battery technology to advance grid reliability and support the integration of renewable energy. The substantial capital infusion and expanded leadership structure position the company to scale manufacturing capacity and meet burgeoning interest in long-duration energy storage solutions in the evolving energy market.