Battery technology firm Sila receives $1.4 billion Pentagon loan commitment

Aug 7 (Reuters) – Sila said on Friday it had received a conditional loan commitment of up to $1.4 billion from the U.S. Department of Defense for the expansion of its silicon-carbon anode and lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facilities.

“This commitment executes on President Trump’s mandate to aggressively onshore critical materials to enhance America’s defense industrial base,” the defense department said in a separate statement.

Here are some details:

• Last month, Sila said it had secured $300 million in private funding in an equity round led by Sutter Hill Ventures and Atreides Management to support a planned Phase 2 expansion for its silicon-carbon anode technology.

• The conditional loan from the Pentagon would help expand the company’s silicon-carbon anode manufacturing facility in Moses Lake, Washington.

• The funding will also help Sila build out a battery cell facility for specialty applications such as industrial, agricultural and military drones.

• The defense department said that the project would strengthen domestic supply chains serving markets such as energy storage, AI and data centers.

• It would also reduce reliance on foreign sources for critical battery manufacturing components, the Pentagon added.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Jain and Katha Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)