#102 – Rick Luebbe | Group14 Technologies – Lithium Silicon Batteries, Scaling Up Production & Commander’s Intent

Rick Luebbe is the CEO and co-founder of Group14 Technologies, a global manufacturer of breakthrough silicon battery technology, which delivers up to 50% increased energy density across thousands of cycles for any application currently powered by a lithium-ion battery.

Key topics in this conversation include:

  • Group14’s $400 million funding round, led by Porsche
  • The potential for Lithium Silicon batteries to provide a step-function improvement in battery technology
  • How Group14 planned for large scale production from the start
  • The importance of Commander’s Intent in a business

Listen here:

Apple Podcasts: link
Google Podcasts: link
Spotify: link

Links:

Rick’s Bio:

Rick Luebbe is the CEO and co-founder of Group14 Technologies, a global manufacturer of breakthrough silicon battery technology, which delivers up to 50% increased energy density across thousands of cycles for any application currently powered by a lithium-ion battery. Based in Woodinville, Washington, Group14 is manufacturing and delivering its mass market product at commercial scale to customers in sectors including EVs, consumer electronics, aviation and more.

Before founding Group14 in 2015, Rick co-founded and led EnerG2 as its CEO from 2003 until its acquisition by German multinational chemical company BASF in 2016. Rick held the position of co-CEO at EnerG2 – as a wholly owned subsidiary of BASF – from 2016 to 2018. Prior to co-founding successful startups EnerG2 and Group14 Technologies, Rick was the co-founder and CEO of Hubspan, one of the most successful integrators of web-based B2B transactions. At Hubspan, he raised the company’s first two rounds of funding and secured several partnerships. Rick also served as a management consultant with Booz Allen, where he specialized in operations, manufacturing efficiency, and developing and implementing lean manufacturing.

Rick began his career as an Army aviation officer, leading an aeroscout platoon in Desert Storm, where he was awarded the Bronze Star and two Air Medals in recognition for performance in combat operations against the Iraqi Republican Guard. Rick later flew Apaches as commander of an Attack Helicopter Company. Rick holds a B.A. in Biology from Cornell University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Rick regularly writes for Forbes Business Council.

Group14 overview: 

Founded to unlock the electrification of everything, Group14 elevates all batteries by enabling the transformational performance of silicon for all battery applications and use cases to accelerate the global transition to an all-electric future. 

Future of Mobility:

The Future of Mobility podcast is focused on the development and implementation of safe, sustainable, and equitable mobility solutions, with a spotlight on the people and technology advancing these fields.

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