1366 Technologies, a 12-year-old MIT spinoff developing low-cost silicon wafers, one of the building blocks for solar panels, now has the support of billionaire-backed investment firm Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) co-led the startup's Series E round, which 1366 Technologies closed on Tuesday at $18 million.
In a press release, 1366 Technologies said that other new and returning investors also participated in the round. A spokesperson said in an email to BostInno that the company is not currently disclosing other investors, but the majority of the capital was raised from new investors.
The new funding will go toward developing the company's "Direct Wafer" furnaces, which can produce multiple wafers at a time at a low cost—below 15 cents per wafer piece, according to the release. The company will also invest in some of its ongoing research and development initiatives.
"Our investors recognize the power of a technology that introduces wafer innovation to the industry for the very first time," 1366 Technologies said in the release. "Until now, any significant innovation in solar has happened at the cell or module level. Our Direct Wafer technology changes this dynamic."
Since its founding in 2007, 1366 Technologies has raised $107 million in venture capital funding. It has also scored deals with several major players—in 2011, the company received a loan from the U.S. Department of Energy worth $150 million, and in 2016, it landed a long-term strategic partnership with German silicon manufacturer Wacker Chemie AG.
BEV has several other Boston-area companies in its portfolio, including Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Form Energy and Motif FoodWorks. The investment firm is led by billionaires Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson and others, and it has just one funding criterion: Companies it invests in must be working to reduce "about 1 percent of projected 2050 global emissions."
