Group14 Technologies, a global manufacturer and supplier of advanced silicon battery technology, today announced it has raised $214 million in additional financing from a consortium including Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund, Lightrock Climate Impact Fund, Moore Strategic Ventures, Oman Investment Authority, and Molicel. The latest financing brings Group14's Series C round to a total of $614 million.According to Pitchbook, Group14's Series C round represents one of the top 10 largest financings in the climate tech sector completed in 2022. The growing importance of market-ready, transformational battery technology to power the electrification of everything has given rise to a wave of interest from strategic, financial and impact investors in commercial manufacturers of silicon battery technology like Group14."Batteries are becoming the backbone of the clean energy transition," said Brandon Middaugh, Director of Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund. "As we scout out solutions based on cutting-edge science that can accelerate decarbonization and support a more sustainable tomorrow, Group14's technology shows strong potential to accelerate decarbonization of transportation, electronics, energy storage, and beyond."Group14 launched its first Battery Active Materials (BAM-1) factory in Woodinville, WA, in April 2021 with a nameplate capacity of 120 tons per year of SCC55™, its silicon-carbon battery technology. In conjunction with the recent $100 million grant from the Biden-Harris Administration and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Series C funding will be used to build Group14's second commercial-scale BAM-2 factory.To address the rapidly growing demand from global battery manufacturers and automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), Group14 is aggressively building BAM factories globally, capable of producing commercial-scale quantities of advanced silicon battery technology that delivers higher performance than traditional lithium-ion batteries in terms of energy density and charge rates. In addition to its two U.S. factories, Group14 has announced an additional BAM factory as part of a joint venture factory in South Korea with SK Inc. The forthcoming BAM factories are engineered for modular manufacturing with each module capable of producing 2,000 tons of SCC55™ annually."It comes down to shortening the path to market for OEMs so we can meet EV demand today," said Rick Luebbe, CEO & Co-Founder of Group14. "The market has been moving at a breakneck pace, and right now, we're truly at a crossroads for the future of electrified mobility. This investment is a testament to the mission on which Group14 has been founded: a cleaner, more sustainable planet for generations to come."This additional financing follows Group14's $400 million Series C funding announced in May 2022, led by Porsche AG with participation from OMERS Capital Markets, Decarbonization Partners, Riverstone Holdings LLC, Vsquared Ventures and Moore Strategic Ventures.Citi and Nomura Greentech acted as joint placement agents on this transaction.
