Led · Series B · Dec 2020

Group14 is a battery materials startup that manufactures silicon anode materials for lithium‑ion batteries. Its product is a scaffold with internal voids that hold silicon, allowing the silicon to expand without crumbling; the material can be blended with graphite or replace it entirely. Group14 says the material can improve energy density by up to 50% and cut fast‑charging times below 10 minutes. The company operates three factories—two in the U.S. and one in South Korea—and plans to expand its manufacturing footprint using proceeds from the recent round. It closed a $463 million funding round to support that expansion, a move investors took as a sign of continued confidence in EV battery technology despite softer EV demand headlines. The broader lithium‑ion battery market is expected to grow more than 15% annually and quintuple in size over the next decade, according to Precedence Research. Group14 Technologies is a commercial manufacturer and supplier of advanced silicon battery materials, producing SCC55 silicon‑carbon battery active materials. The company operates a commercial-scale Battery Active Materials (BAM-1) factory in Woodinville, Washington, with a nameplate capacity of 120 tons per year. It launched BAM-1 in April 2021 and is developing additional manufacturing capacity through a joint-venture factory with SK, Inc. in South Korea and a second U.S. factory. Group14 plans to use recent Series C funding to build its second commercial-scale BAM-2 factory. The company is led by CEO and co-founder Rick Luebbe. Recent financings indicate institutional backing from strategic and climate-focused investors. Group14 Technologies is a Woodinville, Washington–based maker of advanced silicon battery technology founded in 2015. The company developed a silicon‑carbon composite material designed to replace graphite anodes in lithium‑ion batteries, which it says improves performance by about 50% and enables faster recharging. Group14 launched its first commercial-scale Battery Active Materials factory in Woodinville in April 2021. It will use a $100 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy to build two 2,000‑ton‑per‑year commercial manufacturing modules at a second facility in Moses Lake, Eastern Washington, and expects to hire 500 employees for construction, commissioning and operations. The DOE funding is part of a first phase deploying more than $7 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to boost domestic battery production. The company raised $400 million in May in a funding round led by Porsche AG and has raised $441 million to date. Group14 produces a silicon‑carbon powder (branded SCC55) that can replace or augment graphite anodes by infusing a porous carbon scaffold with a silicon‑containing gas to create nanoscale silicon particles. The company says SCC55 can store about 50% more energy than traditional graphite anodes and can be blended with existing graphite anodes with minimal production-line changes. Group14 currently has one battery‑materials plant online and is building two more: a joint venture plant with SK Group coming online later this year and another plant slated to begin production in 2023. The company appears to be targeting production for Porsche battery packs in 2024. Prior to the new financing, Group14 had secured roughly $41.5 million combined in venture funding and government grants. The startup is based in Woodinville, Washington. Group14 Technologies develops silicon-carbon composite materials for lithium-ion markets, with flagship product SCC55™ that promises up to 50% more energy density than conventional graphite. The company has ramped pilot production and planned to supply its first commercial customers in consumer electronics in Q1 2021. It secured $17 million in Series B funding to scale production and meet rising demand for its lithium-silicon technology. Group14 plans to break ground on a hydroelectric-powered production facility in Moses Lake, Washington to build out a domestic lithium-ion battery supply chain. Earlier investors include Amperex Technology Limited (ATL), Showa Denko, Cabot Corporation, BASF, and OVP Venture Partners. Founded in 2015 and based in Woodinville, Washington, the company has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy for its drop-in nanomaterials and industrial-scale process.