US battery materials manufacturer Sila Nanotechnologies has raised US$70 million of new investment in a Series D funding round.
California private equity firm Sutter Hill Ventures led the funding round, with investors including the Siemens-backed global venture firm Next47.
Sila Nano, founded in 2011 by a team including Silicon Valley battery engineers, designs and produces engineered materials to “dramatically increase the energy density of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries”.
The company aims to “unlock mass adoption of affordable, long-range electric vehicles”. Sila Nano’s “silicon-dominant anode products drop into existing battery manufacturing processes, replace graphite entirely, and deliver significantly higher energy density at the cell-level with lower swelling”.
Sutter Hill MD Mike Speiser said: “We back companies that solve big problems that are worth solving, and Sila is a great example of that. Changes in battery chemistry are generational, and Sila Nano is bringing the next one to market.”
Since 2011, Sila Nano has raised a total of US$125m from investors including Samsung.
