Form Energy Raises $750M as Four New York Startups Close Rounds in One Day

Form Energy has closed a $750 million Series G funding round led by asset manager T. Rowe Price, with new investors including Sequoia Capital, Janus Henderson and Franklin Templeton, bringing the company's total equity raised to more than $2 billion.

The company develops iron-air batteries that store electricity for up to 100 hours, and it will direct the proceeds toward expanding its plant in West Virginia after its contracted backlog rose from roughly 20 to 80 gigawatt-hours. That growth has been driven by rising data-center demand for power, while the company's customers include Google and Xcel Energy.

More broadly, US venture deals on August 12 included no consumer-sector investment, as capital flowed instead into energy, AI infrastructure and biotech.

On the same day, four New York-based companies closed funding rounds. Blacksmith raised $45 million in a Series B at a valuation near $550 million led by Peak XV, while Silicon Data secured $30.5 million with participation from CME Group and Samsung Ventures. In addition, Remepy closed $36 million for its Parkinson's disease drug program, whereas Boulevard Bio launched with $65 million in founding capital from Deerfield. As a result, New York's company formation rate in AI infrastructure and biotech now approaches Bay Area levels at Series A and B.

Key terms explained:

Venture capital: Investment in high-risk startups in exchange for an ownership stake.

Series G: A late funding stage that follows earlier rounds, used by large companies for industrial expansion or ahead of a public listing.

Iron-air battery: A storage technology based on the reaction between iron and oxygen, allowing electricity to be stored for days at a lower cost than lithium batteries.

Gigawatt-hour: A unit measuring the quantity of energy, equal to one million kilowatt-hours.

Founding round: The first funding a company receives at launch, also known as a seed round.