Westborough, Massachusetts
Ascend Elements utilizes proprietary Hydro-to-Cathode® technology that directly synthesizes cathode materials from recycled lithium-ion batteries, recovering lithium, nickel, and cobalt. They also developed Hydro-to-Anode™ technology to recover over 99.9% pure graphite from spent batteries. The technologies enable microstructure engineering to customize material crystal structures, reduce production costs by up to 50%, and lower carbon emissions by up to 93% compared to traditional methods, aiming for a 90% carbon footprint reduction by 2030.
The company produces high-performance cathode active materials (CAM) and precursor cathode active materials (pCAM) for EV batteries, along with purified graphite recovered through Hydro-to-Anode™ technology, tailored to meet specific customer performance requirements.
Recent projects include expansion to increase U.S. lithium carbonate production by 60% with a new recovery line at the Covington, Georgia facility operational by 2025, producing up to 3,000 metric tons annually. They formed a joint venture with Elemental Strategic Metals for a lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Zawiercie, Poland, and secured a $125 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to support advanced graphite recycling with Orbia.
In 2024, Ascend Elements raised $162M in equity funding, bringing its total raised to $704M over the past 12 months. Key investors include Just Climate, Clearvision Ventures, IRONGREY, with earlier rounds led by Decarbonization Partners, Temasek, and Qatar Investment Authority.
