SAN JOSE — An advanced battery maker has opened a new engineering hub in San Jose in a move that will allow the energy company to expand its Silicon Valley operations.
Sakuu has opened an engineering hub in South San Jose, where it conducts 3-D printing of state-of-the-art solid-state batteries that can be used in electric vehicles and other applications.
The new complex, which Sakuu describes as a “state-of-the-art” facility, is located at 5500 Hellyer Ave. and occupies a building that totals 79,000 square feet and is a short distance from the company’s headquarters at 5870 Hellyer Ave.
The engineering hub is expected to accommodate 115 Sakuu employees from January to March first quarter of 2023, the company said.
“Sakuu is committed to building an extremely talented workforce that wants to be a part of our reinvention of sustainable energy production,” said Robert Bagheri, Sakuu’s chief executive officer and founder.
The company is focusing on two lines of work, both of which are expected to be strengthened by the new South San Jose engineering center:
– One line of business is the high-volume production of batteries that can be used in green energy applications such as electric vehicles.
– The other is the use of the 3-D printing technologies, which can encourage advanced applications in sectors such as aerospace, automotive, consumer electronics, Internet of Things and medical devices.
“We are in a rapid growth phase due to the strong demand for our future printed batteries,” said Sean Sharif, Sakuu’s vice president of global supply chain and logistics.
Sakuu has landed two major rounds of venture funding that together total $62 million, the company said. The funding consists of a $50 million Series A funding round in 2021 and a $12 million follow-on round in 2022.
“Full commercialization and volume production of solid-state batteries” are expected to result from the latest venture funding round, the company said.
The new Sakuu engineering hub will accommodate the company’s battery, engineering, materials science, research and advanced manufacturing efforts. The engineering center will also pave the way for the company’s first Gigafactory, powered by Sakuu’s 3D printing platform, called Sakuu G-One.
Sakuu will use the new San Jose engineering hub to train employees to operate the company’s future gigafactories that will produce batteries for electric vehicles on a mass scale.
“The facility will allow our teams to fine-tune all aspects of our battery printing technologies to enable rapid deployment of our gigafactories,” Sharif said.
