Bill Gates-Backed Company Is Designing a Novel Wind Turbine (2)

Wind turbines have grown in size, but their form has largely stayed the same. A startup backed by the US Department of Defense and Bill Gates is among those looking to change that.

Airloom Energy Inc. received $13.75 million in financing to build a pilot in Wyoming to test its technology, the company announced on Tuesday. Lowercarbon Capital led a funding round that included Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures LLC for $7.5 million, with the rest coming from the state of Wyoming and the Department of Defense.

Instead of rising on a tower, the startup’s turbine uses a rollercoaster-like track. Wind ...