SAN LEANDRO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FreeWire Technologies (“FreeWire”), a category leader in electric vehicle (EV) charging and power solutions, today announced that it has appointed Michael Beer to the role of Chief Financial Officer, and Jeff Risher to the role of General Counsel. In their respective positions, Beer will be responsible for strategic financial planning and management, and Risher will be responsible for overseeing legal matters, IP strategy, and technology partnerships.
“As our growth accelerates, FreeWire continues to attract world-class leaders who bring a diverse, experienced and unmatched skillset to the EV market from leading enterprise companies including Apple, Citi, Tesla, Luminar and more. Beer and Risher bring decades of senior leadership experience with a proven track record of delivering results at leading technology, transportation and e-mobility companies,” said Arcady Sosinov, Founder and CEO of FreeWire. “They possess a deep understanding of the automotive technology market and will contribute significant functional expertise in all aspects of corporate strategy, finance, legal and intellectual property, each of which will play a key role in the execution of our company’s long-term growth strategy. We are thrilled to welcome this world-class talent to the FreeWire team.”
Prior to FreeWire Technologies, Beer served as Head of Financial Strategy and Investor Relations at Luminar Technologies, ushering the company through their recent go-public transaction as well as previous private funding rounds. Before Luminar, Beer spent seven years at Citigroup in Hong Kong focusing on the Pan-Asia transportation logistics and infrastructure space. From 2006 to 2010, he covered the North American freight transportation sector at Bear Stearns and subsequently Wolfe Research in New York. He began his career at Goldman Sachs, with experience in the global oil & gas sector during his time at the Benchmark Company. He received his undergraduate degree in Finance and Entrepreneurship from the University of Arizona and completed his MBA at the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania).
“By developing and deploying truly differentiated technology, FreeWire is extremely well positioned to disrupt the dynamic and burgeoning EV charging market. Given the proliferation of new electric vehicles slated for production, supportive local and national government initiatives and fragmentation amongst service providers, there is a great market opportunity for FreeWire. I look forward to joining this dynamic leadership team to support and shape the long-term growth strategy,” said Beer.
Risher has served in numerous legal and strategy leadership positions at world class companies in the automotive, energy and technology fields. He previously served as Deputy General Counsel, Chief IP Counsel and Chief Litigation Counsel at Tesla, and before that, he held a variety of key positions at Apple from 2006 to 2015, including Director of Patent Strategy & Licensing, Director of Litigation and Director of Patent Litigation. Immediately before joining FreeWire, Risher was Chief Strategy Officer & General Counsel at Aira, and he also previously served as General Counsel at Entefy and as VP of Technology & IP Strategy at Faraday Future. Intellectual Asset Management Magazine (IAM) has recognized Risher as one of the “World’s Top IP Strategists” based on industry peer nominations.
“FreeWire’s battery-integrated charging station technology addresses some of the most fundamental challenges to EV charging infrastructure deployment, enabling rapid installation of DC fast charging and distribution/management of grid resources, all without requiring capital-intensive site construction and utility upgrades. It is an exciting honor to join this amazing FreeWire team at this critical stage of the company’s growth and at an historical turning point in global EV adoption,” said Risher.
Additionally, FreeWire has appointed Scott Lang to its Board of Directors. He joins the FreeWire team as the former Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Silver Spring Networks, Inc., which is a leader in wireless infrastructure for utility power grids and a pioneer in smart meters. He joined as the company's founding Chief Executive Officer in 2004 and ushered Silver Spring Networks from a startup brand to a successful publicly traded company through an IPO on the NYSE in 2013. Lang brings more than 30 years of leadership, marketing, sales and management experience in the services and utility industries.
“FreeWire’s innovative and unique technology solutions enable it to be at the forefront of revolutionizing the EV charging space,” said Lang. “I am honored to be appointed to their Board, and confident my long-standing relationships within the utility industry will help steer the company towards a successful future.”
About FreeWire Technologies
FreeWire's turnkey power solutions deliver energy whenever and wherever it's needed for reliable electrification beyond the grid. With scalable clean power that moves to meet demand, FreeWire customers can tackle new applications and deploy new business models without the complexity of upgrading traditional energy infrastructure.
FreeWire has deployed battery-integrated chargers with Fortune 100 companies, commercial customers, fleets, retail locations, and gas stations. In December 2020, FreeWire and bp pulse, one of the UK’s leading providers of EV charging infrastructure, announced an exclusive MOU for bp pulse to deploy Boost Charger in its operations across the UK. FreeWire and ampm, a bp subsidiary and convenience store chain with over 1,000 locations, have already deployed multiple public charging stations in the U.S.
In January 2021, FreeWire announced a $50 million Series C funding round, led by Riverstone Holdings, with participation from current shareholders bp ventures, Energy Innovation Capital, and Blue Bear Capital. This financing will enable FreeWire to accelerate international market expansion of Boost Charger and expand production capacity to meet unprecedented customer demand.
Learn more at www.freewiretech.com.