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Sila Nanotechnologies and its battery materials manufacturing technology are now worth more than $ 1 billion.
The company, which has announced a $ 170 million financing led by Daimler and a partnership with the renowned German manufacturer, began building its first production lines for its battery materials last year. This first line is capable of producing the material needed to provide the equivalent of 50 megawatts of lithium-ion batteries, according to Sila Nano's general manager, Gene Berdichevsky.
This build, completed after a $ 70 million investment round, will be expanded with new liquidities from Daimler and 8VC, as well as from previous investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Chengwei Capital, Matrix Partners, Siemens Next47 and Sutter Hill Ventures. .
Berdichevsky did not mean how much production capacity would increase, but he said that the company's battery materials would be integrated into consumer devices by the end of 2020. That means smart watches, headphones and health followers have the potential for more durable batteries, initially.
From its headquarters in Alameda, California, Sila Nanotechnologies has developed a silicon-based anode to replace graphite in lithium-ion batteries. The company says that its materials can improve the energy density of batteries by 20%.
"If you can increase the energy density by 20% … you can use 20% fewer cells and each pack can cost 20% less," says Berdichevsky. "The bottom line is that it's the way to lower the price of energy storage. And this is the way for the electric vehicle market to go away more and more. "
It was this type of cost reduction that prompted BMW and Daimler to join the company – and that led to the company's mbadive funding and new unicorn status.
"Our valuation now exceeds $ 1 billion, "says Berdichevsky.
Image reproduced with the kind permission of Sila Nanotechnologies
For Daimler, the materials developed by Sila Nanotechnologies will give a boost to the company's commitment to electrification.
Mercedes-Benz plans to electrify its entire product line by 2022, the company said. This means that Daimler needs to accelerate the production of electrified alternatives to its fleet of fuel-powered vehicles – from its 48-volt electric system (the EQ Boost) to its plug-in hybrids (EQ-Power) and more. ten fully electric vehicles powered by batteries or fuel cells. The company expects that 15% to 25% of its total sales will be electric by 2025 – depending on customer preferences, infrastructure development and regulation in each of the markets on which it sells. vehicles, the company said.
In total, Mercedes-Benz cars have pledged to invest 10 billion euros ($ 11.3 billion) in vehicle production and an additional $ 1.3 billion into a global battery production network. The global Mercedes-Benz Cars battery production network will consist of nine plants on three continents in the future.
"We are on the road to future carbon-free mobility. While our all-new EQC model is entering the markets this year, we are already paving the way for the next generation of powerful battery-powered electric vehicles, "said Sajjad Khan, Executive Vice President of Connected. Autonomous, shared and electric mobility, Daimler AG in a statement.
Nevertheless, consumers should not expect to see vehicles with Sila Nano technology until at least the mid-2020s as automakers seek to prove that the company's battery technology meets their standards. quality badurance. "Qualification time means many years of work to ensure its reliability for the next ten to twenty years, "says Berdichevsky. "Our partnership is focused on production goals for the mid-2020s, but qualification takes time. "
The last round of the company brings its total funding to just under $ 300 million since its launch in 2011. And thanks to the latest funding, former General Manager of General Electric, Jeff Immelt sits on the board of directors of the company.
"Progress in lithium-ion batteries is becoming increasingly limited and we are fighting for incremental improvements," said Jeff Immelt. "I myself have seen that this is a huge and incredibly difficult opportunity to solve. The Sila Nano team has not only created a revolutionary chemistry, it has also solved it in a commercially viable way on a large scale. "
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