Business10 August, 20263 min read
Pentagon Backs Sila With $1.4 Billion Loan To Expand Moses Lake Silicon-Carbon Anode Production
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DoD provides up to $1.4B loan to Sila for silicon-carbon anode production in Moses Lake. Loan is conditional, issued by Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital.
Pentagon backs Sila
The U.S. Department of Defense backed battery materials startup Sila with a $1.4 billion loan to expand silicon-carbon anode production at its Moses Lake, Washington facility and to build a new lithium-ion battery cell facility.
The financing is aimed at strengthening U.S. domestic energy and defense supply chains as battery inputs produced outside of China face mounting pressure from commercial electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers and defense contractors.
Sila makes its silicon-carbon anode material at the Moses Lake plant, which began operating in September and currently has annual capacity of 2 gigawatt-hours (GWh).
The company plans to expand the Moses Lake facility fivefold, enough material for more than 100,000 EVs, after raising $300 million in July led by Atreides Management and Sutter Hill Ventures.
The loan commitment is conditional, with Sila required to satisfy financial, legal, technical, and other conditions before signing definitive financing documents.
China bottleneck
TechCrunch links the Pentagon loan to the difficulty U.S. battery buyers face procuring materials made outside of China, noting that most lithium-ion battery anodes use graphite and that the supply chain for the material is dominated by Chinese companies. The Dealroom framing adds that China controls over 90% of anode processing and over 80% of global cell production, while Sila’s Moses Lake factory is described as one of the few anode sources free of tariffs or geopolitical exposure. Sila’s silicon-carbon anode material is described as promising to store 20% to 40% more electricity than graphite anodes, a performance advantage that could support longer-lasting cells or smaller, lighter batteries.
The loan is also positioned as a defense supply-chain move, with the Department of Defense announcing that Sila’s expansion targets vulnerability to trade disputes, export restrictions, or supply disruptions. Alongside Sila, the Department of Defense announced a $400 million loan to Australia’s Sunrise Energy Metals for scandium mining, a $150 million loan to Niron Magnetics for rare earth-free magnets, and an $85 million equity investment in Strategic Bauxite.
Contracts and conditions
TechCrunch says Sila has already lined up deals with Mercedes and Panasonic, and it frames the Pentagon loan as potentially opening the door to contracts with defense companies as wars in Iran and Ukraine drag on.
The Innovation Village account describes the Pentagon’s financing as part of a broader push to bolster domestic critical mineral processing and advanced material supply chains, with the Sila loan announced alongside three additional strategic investments.
The conditional nature of the commitment is emphasized in Dealroom, which says Sila must satisfy financial, legal, technical, and other conditions before signing definitive financing documents.
Battery Technology’s account quotes David A. Lorch, Director of the Office of Strategic Capital and Senior Advisor to Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg, stating: "Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump, as important enabling components for critical sectors of the defense industrial base and U.S. economy".
Sila’s CEO and cofounder Gene Berdichevsky is quoted saying, "We solved the hardest problem in battery materials with the invention of the modern silicon anode," as the company positions manufacturing at gigascale in America as the next step.