Sila is raising major cash to finish its plant in Moses Lake.
The Alameda, California-based battery tech company on Thursday announced a $375 million funding round. Sila said the money will help it finish its factory in the first quarter of next year, allowing Sila to deliver to auto customers in late 2025.
“Our investors share the perspective that the world will transition to fully electric,” Gene Berdichevsky, Sila co-founder and CEO, said in a news release. “To transform the world and meet consumer expectations, the industry needs to take the next big step on battery performance and charging speeds."
Sila, founded in 2011, makes a silicon-based anode powder meant to replace the traditional graphite powder found in most batteries today, with the aim of making batteries cheaper, smaller and longer lasting. The company already powers a wearable fitness tracker called the Whoop, but its larger ambitions, and a major reason for the plant in central Washington, include electric vehicles.
Related coverage
Sila bought the more than 600,000-square-foot Moses Lake facility in 2022, and the company previously told the Business Journal it would cost in the "low nine figures" to get ready for production. It started the build-out of the facility in November of last year. Sila originally targeted the second half of 2024 for first production in Moses Lake and the first half of 2025 for full production.
The Moses Lake factory will supply Mercedes-Benz, Panasonic and three unnamed customers. According to Sila, the facility will eventually be able to produce enough of its powder for up to 1 million cars per year.
Sutter Hill Ventures and T. Rowe Price Associates led the $375 million round, while Bessemer Venture Partners, Coatue, Perry Creek Capital and others participated.
In November, Sila said it will hire between 100 and 500 workers in Moses Lake. The company in October named Rosendo Alvarado as its Moses Lake plant manager. Alvarado was previously Sila's head of operations and has more than 30 years of experience.
Moses Lake, which has cheap electric power and a strong labor pool, is drawing multiple Sila competitors in the battery tech space. Woodinville-based Group14 Technologies is building a 1 million-square-foot factory campus in Moses Lake slated to open later this year. Its plant will start with two manufacturing modules that will each produce 2,000 tons of Group14's battery powder per year. The company plans to have at least six modules there eventually.
Palo Alto, California-based OneD Battery Sciences is retrofitting two 12,500-square-foot facilities in Moses Lake.
Sila raised $590 million in 2021, after which it was valued at $3.3 billion. The company didn't provide an updated value.
For more stories like this one, sign up for Seattle Inno newsletters from the Puget Sound Business Journal and the American Inno network.
