Manager – Materials Engineering

Five Cambridge and Somerville climate tech companies receive state tax incentive. The companies will be able to put this money toward expansion through advancing research and projects, hiring more employees and offering stipends Somerville's Form Energy received the majority of a $6 million tax incentive for job creation granted to five climate tech innovation companies in Cambridge and Somerville. Form, which produces high-capacity batteries used for storing renewable energy at utility scale, earlier this year was identified as the recipient of a billion-dollar contract for energy storage from Google, and recently received $750 million in venture capital to help expand its battery factory in West Virginia. Form received $5.6 million in credits from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, which gave $27.2 million in tax incentives to 18 companies across the state to create more jobs. In addition to Form, four other local companies received grants. Pascal Technologies and Mantel Capture in Cambridge as well as Eden Geopower in Somerville received $100,000 in tax credits. Somerville's Vertical Semiconductor received $120,000. Some recipients also receive incentives for capital investment, specifically for leasing or buying facility space. MassCEC selected companies with a clear business plan, evidence of continued revenue gains, and were creating technology that would hinder the impacts of climate change and emissions throughout the world," said Mike Condon, the director of economic growth and partnership at MassCEC, in an interview with Cambridge Day. Condon said MassCEC's grant program, modeled after the Mass Life Sciences Center's program, is a way to help grow and retain climatetech companies in Massachusetts. Form Energy. The Somerville-based company Form Energy produces iron-air batteries designed to deliver electricity for 100 hours to create a reliable electric grid year-round. The $5.6 million incentive allowed Form to hire new employees, bringing the company's employee count to 240. Form was originally developed at MIT before it was further developed at the Somerville climatetech incubator Greentown Labs as well as the Cambridge incubator The Engine. Eden Geopower. Eden Geopower, located in Somerville, developed a "first-of-its-kind" electric reservoir stimulation technology, which uses electric pulse drilling to increase the recovery of natural resources in the ground. Overall, the technology aims "to extract natural resources out of the ground, whether its critical minerals, geothermal energy, geologic hydrogen," said Desi Hambrock, Eden Geopower Chief of Staff. The $100,000 tax incentive allows Eden Geopower "to execute our goals more quickly" by hiring more employees, Hambrock said. Overall, Eden's goal is to develop and generate "energy and resources in a way that is very low cost, but at the same time, has huge environmental impact," as is the goal of all climatetech companies, Hambrock said. Mantel Capture. Mantel Capture in Cambridge created a carbon capture system that uses molten borate salt to capture greenhouse gases in industrial boilers, kilns, and furnaces before they enter the atmosphere. The MassCEC incentive will be "super helpful" as Eden builds a bigger team at its facility at 750 Main Street in Cambridge, said Danielle Rapson, the chief operating officer of Mantel Capture. Particularly, tax incentives "really help" Eden give their interns full-time jobs, she said. Vertical Semiconductor. Located in Somerville, Vertical Semiconductor, which was originally started at MIT, is developing a semiconductor power chip that reduces energy losses in data centers. The power chip, made with vertical gallium nitride, essentially makes power systems "much more efficient," said Cynthia Liao, the co-founder and CEO of Vertical Semiconductor. The power chip reduces energy losses inside a data center by about 80 percent, Liao said. She said right now, 20 to 30 percent of energy in a data center never makes it to the center's computers. Liao is "super excited" about the $120,000 tax incentive because it allows Vertical Semiconductor to create new semiconductor engineering and research and development positions and offer stipends for employees who relocate to Somerville. Pascal Technologies. Pascal Technologies is developing efficient, non-polluting refrigerants that allow HVAC systems to put less strain on the electric grid. More efficient refrigerants are needed because "as the world needs more and more cooling, the amount of super-polluting fluorinated gas refrigerants used in these systems will increase while the extra energy usage will strain our electrical grid," said Adam Slavney, co-founder and CEO of Pascal Technologies. Tax incentives generally allow the Cambridge-based company to "offset the high cost-of-living," Slavney said. The MassCEC incentive specifically allowed Pascal to hire an additional employee, bringing its total employees to 15. A stronger. Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day. Cambridge Day is now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible. Please consider a recurring contribution.

What's behind Form Energy's downgraded valuation. Form raised its Series G at a $1.75-billion pre-money valuation, down from $3 billion in 2024 - but it's isn't necessarily cause for alarm. August 20, 2026 Photo credit: Form Energy Hundred-hour battery maker Form Energy raised a $750 million Series G last week, amid rumors that the company is preparing to go public in 2027. The financing brings Form's total equity raised to more than $2 billion - which is just behind home battery company Base Power, which recently raised a $1 billion Series D. Form's fundamentals, order books, and political tailwinds are all at all-time highs. Its first commercial-scale installation is underway in Minnesota. Manufacturing is scaling up at Form's West Virginia factory, and Biden-era tax credits key for energy storage made it through the Republican budget overhaul last summer. And, despite chaos at the Department of Energy, Form's promised federal funding has stayed on track. (CEO Mateo Jaramillo recently appeared on stage alongside Energy Secretary Chris Wright on a DOE tour focused on energy affordability.) And yet, Form raised its latest round at a $1.75-billion pre-money valuation, according to Axios: a significant downvaluation from the $3-billion pre-money valuation at which the company raised its Series F in October 2024. But the down round isn't necessarily cause for alarm, an investor in the round told Latitude Media on background, who added that it's not a reflection of waning investor faith in iron-air batteries, or a sign that demand for next-gen power solutions to power data centers is being usurped by established solutions. Instead, the raise is ultimately a "lagging indicator" of how tighter private markets and an AI-obsessed capital cycle are affecting even more mature startups. In 2024, there was significantly more capital "swimming around" for clean tech, they said, while today, the capital interested in investing in anything other than artificial intelligence is smaller. And Form, the investor added, isn't considered a direct "AI beneficiary." Ironically, it's Form's versatility that gave investors conviction in the company to start with, they added. "The [total addressable market] for Form's product is just immense...anywhere that you can put a gas peaker you can put a Form battery," they explained. Additionally, Form's "e-peaker" doesn't require building gas pipelines and has lower operating costs than a traditional peaker. But in a world where AI data centers never materialized, Form's pipeline "would have looked roughly as it does, anyways." North American PPA market report: july 2026. Bring clarity to your clean energy strategies, with transparent pricing and unique insights for North American PPA markets, in this updated report from S&P Global Energy. The public markets are already reflecting Form's experience. Fuel cell maker Bloom Energy, for example, which is similarly working to capitalize on the data center power frenzy, has many fundamental data points that indicate its sales prospects are higher today than the beginning of the year, the analyst pointed out. However, while Bloom stocks were trading as high as $350 just a few months ago, they've now dropped to around $200. Emerging, unproven tech solutions may face tougher terms from lenders as the largest data center projects turn to multi-billion dollar debt packages, the investor acknowledged. But that's not the dynamic at play in Form's valuation, partly because Form's first major data center adjacent deal, with Xcel Energy and Google, is really a utility deal, meaning the project will sit in the utility's rate base, backed by Google's payments, rather than relying on project finance. Ultimately, Form is facing an age-old problem for tech companies: "There's a pocket of money that needs to invest in companies at the junction that Form is at, that doesn't currently exist," the investor said. "Twenty years ago, the public markets did that, but companies just don't go public that early as often, and that's why fundraisers have been much more challenging for capex-heavy companies." * Maeve Allsup Maeve Allsup is Latitude Media's founding reporter. She was previously a tech reporter at Morning Brew, where she covered tech policy and regulation, as well as the EV industry. Related Reading Stay ahead of energy's next frontier. Subscribe for free:

Senator Collins visits Lincoln energy storage project with energy secretary Wright. U.S. Senator Susan Collins joined U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and local leaders in Lincoln on Aug. 19 to learn more about Form Energy's plans for a new energy storage facility at the Lincoln Technology Park, located at the site of the former Lincoln Paper & Tissue Mill. The project has received nearly $150 million in federal funding through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program, which was established by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law. Collins was part of the group of ten senators who negotiated that law. "Revitalizing Maine's former mill sites is a priority of mine, and this project holds tremendous promise for Lincoln and the surrounding communities," said Senator Collins. "It will not only breathe new life into a vacant former mill site, but also create new jobs and strengthen energy security and grid reliability throughout central Maine. Once completed, the facility, the first of its kind in New England, will be able to provide enough electricity to power approximately 65,000 homes for 100 hours. As Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I am committed to advocating for Maine to remain at the forefront of energy innovation and resilience." Collins secured a total of $7.5 million through her role on the Senate Appropriations Committee for infrastructure improvements and continued redevelopment at Lincoln Technology Park. This includes $3.5 million allocated in fiscal year 2024 and $4 million in fiscal year 2026. Collins draws from a background in a family lumber business with a history of public service; she promotes environmental protection linked to Maine's economy by supporting sustainable practices across tourism, recreation, forestry, fishing and agriculture; she seeks to improve health care access, foster small business development, enhance job opportunities, advance education efforts, strengthen transportation networks across Maine as well as bolster national defense capabilities while assisting seniors; she serves as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee while holding positions on both Health Education Labor & Pensions Committee as well as Intelligence Committee; she represents Maine securing resources for local operations like shipbuilding & manufacturing; additionally advancing initiatives designed to enhance first responder capabilities, fight domestic terrorism & improve cybersecurity - all according to, the official website.