Heliogen, Inc. (HLGN) today announced the appointment of Sagar Kurada as Chief Financial Officer and Head of Strategy, effective immediately. Mr. Kurada succeeds Kelly Rosser, who has served as interim CFO since February 2023. Ms. Rosser will continue in her role as Chief Accounting Officer.
Mr. Kurada brings more than two decades of experience and expertise in industrial decarbonization and renewable energy with a proven track record of developing and implementing financial growth strategies for disruptive sustainability-driven companies. In his role at Heliogen, he will work closely with the Company’s management team, board of directors, and the recently announced Corporate Strategy Committee to lead the finance organization, drive business growth, and execute on the Company’s mission of industrial decarbonization.
Prior to joining Heliogen, Mr. Kurada served as Chief Financial Officer at Newlight Technologies, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company converting air and greenhouse gas into biomaterials, where he led initiatives around the company’s financial, operations, growth planning, and market responsiveness strategies. Previously, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Eos Energy Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq: EOSE), a leading provider of long duration energy storage systems, where he oversaw Eos’ entry to public markets and led the company’s finance organization including accounting and controllership, financial planning and analysis, tax, investor relations, and treasury. Prior to joining Eos, Mr. Kurada held Chief Financial Officer roles with HighTower Advisors and in multiple GE operating entities, and he also worked in the private equity consulting practice at FCM. He has led multiple significant equity and debt financing rounds to support business growth. Mr. Kurada holds a Bachelor of Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
“Heliogen is at the forefront of solving the critical challenge of providing affordable, reliable clean energy to industry through deployment of their innovative concentrating solar thermal energy technology, and I am excited to join at a time of significant opportunity for the company,” said Mr. Kurada. “Christie and the entire Heliogen team have made significant commercial progress in recent months. I look forward to working alongside this driven group of individuals on the company’s mission to help industry achieve net zero emissions and execute its global growth strategy.”
“We are pleased to welcome Sagar Kurada, an accomplished CFO and corporate leader with deep expertise across finance, strategy, and operations in the renewable energy and decarbonization space,” said Christie Obiaya, Chief Executive Officer, Heliogen. “I am confident we will benefit from his valuable perspectives as we execute on our strategic plan and tackle the key pillars of our business strategy. I want to thank Kelly Rosser, who has played a critical role over the past five months in leading the finance organization while we’ve worked to deliver value and opportunity for our company and shareholders.”