Sila raises $300M to fast-track gigascale anode production and shore up US battery supply chains

TL;DR

Sila raised $300M to expand its Moses Lake silicon anode plant, pitching US-made battery materials as an alternative to Chinese supply chains.

Sila, the battery materials company formerly known as Sila Nanotechnologies, has raised $300 million in a private equity round led by Atreides Management and Sutter Hill Ventures to expand its silicon anode manufacturing plant in Moses Lake, Washington. 8VC, Bessemer Venture Partners, Matrix Partners, and T Rowe Price also participated, alongside existing investors including In-Q-Tel, the venture arm of the US intelligence community. The round brings total funding to well above $1 billion for a company that has shipped its battery material in a single consumer product, the WHOOP fitness band.

Silicon anode technology replaces the graphite in conventional lithium-ion batteries with silicon, which can store roughly 20 percent more energy by weight. Sila’s product, Titan Silicon, was the first commercial silicon anode material to reach consumers...

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