Seattle start-up to see battery tech investment

Participants in the funding that will be used to help Group 14 scale-up manufacturing of a next-gen anode material and pave the way to commercial production include Amperex Technologies Limited (ATL), Showa Denko (SDK), Cabot Corporation, BASF Venture Capital, and OVP Venture Partners, a press release said. Group 14 Co-Founder and CEO Rick Luebbe said, “The participation of these industry leaders together is strong validation of our product’s performance, scalability, and strong intellectual property position, not to mention the enormous market opportunity. When the automotive industry is fully electrified, there will be a nearly trillion-dollar battery industry, 25 times bigger than today. Partnering with the most influential players in the space, we’ll be playing a significant role in making a fully-electrified automotive reality happen faster.” Group14 Board Member Bob Lutz added, “The opportunity to aggressively advance the electrification of the transportation system is right now. It is innovative materials that will create the greatest impact. Group14 Technologies will be one of the companies that helps to make electric vehicles widespread and ubiquitous.” Group14 Technologies specializes in lithium-ion battery materials that combine nanostructured porous carbon with silicon to form a sponge-like composite and are designed for “drop in” compatibility with existing lithium-ion battery production.