The silicon battery material, SCC55, can enable batteries to charge to 80% in 10 minutes
Group14 Technologies announced it has closed a $463m round led by SK Inc., with strong participation of other existing investors, including Porsche Investments, Amperex Technology Limited (ATL), OMERS, and various other investors
The funds will be used for the continued scaling of manufacturing Group14's silicon battery material, SCC55, in both the U.S. and South Korea, helping to meet the demand for energy storage worldwide.
The company also gained full ownership of its joint venture with SK Inc., located in Sangju, South Korea, which was formed in 2021. The joint venture's battery active materials (BAM) factory produces Group14's flagship technology, SCC55, at EV scale to support the global battery manufacturing industry.
Rick Luebbe, CEO and co-founder of Group14, said: "This is a defining moment for Group14 and a clear signal that the future of high-performance energy storage, powered by our silicon battery material, is already here."
"We're strengthening regional battery supply chains and safeguarding our customers from global trade uncertainty."
What is SCC55?
SCC55 is a stable silicon-carbon composite material that can hold up to five times the capacity of graphite and can afford up to 50% more energy density than graphite, which is currently used to power lithium-ion batteries today.
SCC55 is optimised to be a drop-in-ready solution that can blend with or even fully replace graphite in the anode, powering silicon batteries across a range of appliances and products. It can also increase the energy density of a lithium-ion battery by up to 50%, transforming it into a lithium-silicon battery. The material also enables batteries to charge to 80% in less than 10 minutes.
Silicon, one of the most abundant materials on Earth, is also one of the most challenging to work with, as many people have tried and failed to harness silicon in batteries, unable to find a solution for the materials' volume expansion issues. The team at Group14 discovered the missing piece was engineered carbon, and so SCC55 was developed to have carbon-based scaffolding to keep silicon in its ideal form, amorphous and nano-sized.
Expanding global reach
Group14's third commercial battery active materials factory, BAM-3, is located in Asia, home to the world's largest battery manufacturers.
In September 2024, the factory began delivery of SCC55 to over a hundred EV and consumer electronics battery manufacturing customers around the world.
Joe Kit Chu Lam, executive vice president at ATL, a subsidiary TDK Corporation, said: "Group14 technology is already integrated into millions of ATL batteries powering AI-enabled smartphones.We support even broader delivery of their silicon anode material to power the next generation of high-performance silicon batteries."
With its first and second BAM factories in Washington state, Group14 is expanding its silicon battery infrastructure into Europe with a silane gas factory in Germany which will provide an essential building block for advanced energy storage technologies.
