Sila receives conditional $1.4-billion loan commitment to expand US battery anode manufacturing

Battery anode technology developer Sila has received a conditional loan commitment of up to $1.4 billion from the US Defense Department’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC).

The financing would support the expansion of Sila’s silicon-carbon (Si/C) anode manufacturing capacity at its plant in Moses Lake, Washington, as well as the buildout of a lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facility.

Sila intends to expand the Moses Lake plant using its next-generation modular manufacturing technology, which is designed to scale rapidly with demand. Sila aims to build out the battery cell facility for specialty applications with high performance requirements, such as industrial, agricultural and military drones, and advance its Si/C anode technology, Titan Silicon.

The OSC’s conditional commitment follows a recent $300 million equity round led by Sutter Hill Ventures and Atreides Management.

“We solved the hardest problem in battery materials with the invention of the modern silicon anode. But invention is only the first step—manufacturing it at gigascale, here in America, proves that technology sovereignty is possible,” said Gene Berdichevsky, Sila’s co-founder and CEO. “By scaling our manufacturing at home, we are ensuring critical technology sectors have the supply chain security they need to thrive.”

Source: Sila Nanotechnologies