The archive · Climate & Energy · Strategic decision · 2021–2025
Group14 bets silicon anodes replace graphite; first plants ship since Sept 2024
Group14's SCC55 silicon anode began shipping from its Sangju factory in September 2024; $463M Series D in 2025 pushed total equity past $1B.
Group14 Technologies
What the business is
Group14 Technologies makes SCC55, a silicon-carbon composite anode powder that replaces or blends with graphite in lithium-ion batteries, sold to cell makers for EVs, consumer electronics and grid storage.
Starting capital：Over $1B in equity by August 2025: a $400M Series C in 2022 (including $100M from Porsche), a $463M Series D led by SK Inc. in 2025, plus a $100M DOE grant for the Moses Lake plant matched by $223M of Group14's own money.
How it started
Group14 was founded in Woodinville, Washington by Rick Luebbe and cofounders to fix silicon's fatal flaw as an anode: it holds up to ten times more lithium than graphite but swells and cracks with every charge. Its SCC55 material infuses a porous carbon scaffold with silicon gas, so the carbon holds the structure while nanoscale silicon grabs lithium; Group14 claimed the result stores about 50% more energy than graphite anodes. The first commercial factory opened in Woodinville in 2021, and in May 2022 Porsche put $100M into a $400M Series C to help fund a joint-venture plant with SK in Sangju, South Korea and a US factory in Moses Lake, Washington.
What happened
In 2023 Group14 acquired Germany's Schmid Silicon to secure monosilane gas, the key precursor for SCC55. In February 2024 US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Senator Maria Cantwell toured the Moses Lake site, where Group14 is building two 2,000-ton-per-year modules backed by a $100M DOE grant. In July 2024 the company signed offtake agreements totaling at least $300M with three EV and two consumer-electronics cell makers across Europe, Asia and North America, and its Sangju, South Korea factory began shipping SCC55 to customers in September 2024 with 10 GWh of annual capacity.
How it ended up
Still running and scaling: in August 2025 Group14 closed a $463M Series D led by SK Inc. — joined by Porsche Investments, TDK's ATL, OMERS, Decarbonization Partners, Lightrock and Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund — took full ownership of the Sangju plant, passed $1B in total equity raised, and reported SCC55 in the supply chain of more than 100 customers.
Background
Group14 Technologies' bet is that silicon will replace graphite as the anode in lithium-ion batteries. Graphite is stable but nearly at its energy limit, while silicon can hold up to ten times more lithium — yet it swells and cracks on repeated charging. Group14's SCC55 infuses a porous carbon scaffold with silicon gas so the carbon carries the structure, and the company claims the result stores about 50% more energy than a graphite anode while dropping into existing production lines with minimal changes.
The company opened its first commercial factory in Woodinville, Washington in 2021, then raised a $400M Series C in May 2022 with Porsche contributing $100M. Two more factories followed: a joint venture with SK in Sangju, South Korea, which began shipping SCC55 to customers in September 2024 with 10 GWh of annual capacity, and a Moses Lake, Washington plant built with $223M of company money plus a $100M DOE grant, where two 2,000-ton modules were expected to fully open during 2024.
In July 2024 Group14 signed offtake agreements totaling at least $300M with three EV and two consumer-electronics cell makers. In August 2025 it closed a $463M Series D led by SK Inc. with Porsche Investments, TDK's ATL, OMERS, Decarbonization Partners, Lightrock and Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund, took full ownership of the Sangju plant, and passed $1B in total equity raised, with SCC55 reported in the supply chains of more than 100 customers.
What has to be true
- Group14 attacked silicon's swelling problem with a carbon scaffold rather than chasing new battery chemistry, keeping the product a drop-in material for existing lines.
- Strategic investors like Porsche, SK and Microsoft paid to secure supply, letting Group14 build EV-scale factories before the market was proven.
- Winning a $100M DOE grant and building in the US gave Group14 a China-free graphite alternative to pitch to Western automakers.
- Vertical moves like acquiring Schmid Silicon for monosilane gas secured the feedstock bottleneck instead of relying on suppliers.
What can be applied
The hard part of silicon anodes wasn't the chemistry — it was making a drop-in powder that fits existing factories, then betting strategic capital on EV-scale plants years before orders arrived.
Aftermath
As of 2026-09-02 Group14 operates commercial factories in Washington state and South Korea plus a silane plant in Germany, with SCC55 in the supply chains of more than 100 customers across EV, electronics and grid-storage markets. After the August 2025 Series D it owns its Sangju, South Korea factory outright and continues to scale US production. Public sources through late 2025 do not disclose revenue or profitability, so the transition from funded scaling to cash-generating manufacturing is not yet verifiable.
Sources
- Porsche joins $400M bet on Group14's silicon batteries
- Cantwell, Energy Sec. Granholm Visit New Moses Lake Factories Primed to Make EVs More Practical and Affordable
- Group14 signs offtake deals with 3 EV manufacturers for silicon battery materials
- Porsche investiert erneut in Batteriematerialentwickler Group14
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