TL;DRSila 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 when it launched inside the WHOOP wearable in 2021. Mercedes-Benz has named the electric EQG as the first vehicle to use the material, but no automotive batteries containing Titan Silicon have shipped yet.
