The archive · Climate & Energy · Strategic decision · 2015–2026
Ascend Elements' IRA-grant bet: $542M raised, DOE pulls funds, Chapter 11 in 2026
Ascend Elements bet federal grants plus 45X credits would pay for US cathode plants; DOE canceled its funding, Chapter 11 in April 2026.
Ascend Elements
What the business is
Ascend Elements recycles lithium-ion batteries into black mass, then refines it into cathode precursor (pCAM), cathode active material (CAM) and lithium carbonate for new EV batteries, with plants in Covington, Georgia and Hopkinsville, Kentucky.
Starting capital：~$542M Series D (announced Sep 2023) led by BlackRock's Decarbonization Partners on top of earlier rounds; $418M in federal grants total, including the $316M DOE award for the Kentucky plant of which ~$206M was drawn before the remainder was canceled.
How it started
Founded in 2015 as Battery Resourcers by Worcester Polytechnic Institute professor Yan Wang and postdoc Eric Gratz, whose hydro-to-cathode process was developed in the WPI lab; the company renamed itself Ascend Elements in January 2022. In October 2022 the DOE awarded it a $316 million grant toward a roughly $1 billion cathode-precursor plant (Apex 1) in Hopkinsville, Kentucky; construction began that year.
What happened
In September 2023 Ascend announced a $542M Series D led by BlackRock's Decarbonization Partners on top of earlier DOE grants, targeting 20 kilotons of pCAM per year at Kentucky, with Honda and SK Battery America as customers. Treasury and IRS finalized the IRA's Section 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit rules on October 24, 2024, crediting domestic production of qualifying battery components and critical minerals. But construction at Apex 1 halted in 2024; in February 2025 Ascend and the DOE mutually canceled a $164M CAM grant citing changing market conditions, and in October 2025 the DOE terminated the remaining ~$316M grant ($206M already disbursed) as part of more than $700M in manufacturing-award cancellations. Contractor Turner-Kokosing JV had sued Ascend for $138M in unpaid construction bills in April 2025.
How it ended up
Chapter 11: Ascend voluntarily filed for bankruptcy on April 9, 2026 in the Southern District of Texas. On June 4, 2026 the bankruptcy court approved Turner-Kokosing JV's $31.7 million bid for the under-construction Apex 1 plant, a bid challenged by fellow recycler American Battery Technology Company; CEO Linh Austin, who took over in 2025, publicly said the company had 'a long history of fiscal and operational mismanagement, and that its future was very much in question.'
Background
Ascend Elements (founded 2015 as Battery Resourcers by WPI professor Yan Wang and postdoc Eric Gratz) bet that US industrial policy would make domestic battery recycling profitable. Its hydro-to-cathode process refines shredded battery 'black mass' into battery-grade cathode precursor (pCAM), cathode active material (CAM) and lithium carbonate — the high-value output that CEO Mike O'Kronley said separates real recycling from commodity shredding.
The policy wind was strong: a $316M DOE grant (October 2022) toward a roughly $1 billion pCAM plant in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, a $542M Series D led by BlackRock's Decarbonization Partners (September 2023), Honda and SK Battery America as customers, and final IRS/Treasury rules for the IRA's Section 45X production credit (October 24, 2024) that credit domestic production of battery components and critical minerals — including from recycled materials.
Then the support collapsed. Construction at Apex 1 halted in 2024. In February 2025 Ascend and the DOE mutually canceled a $164M CAM grant; in October 2025 the DOE terminated the remaining ~$316M grant — about $206M had already been disbursed — as part of more than $700M in manufacturing-award cancellations. Contractor Turner-Kokosing JV had separately sued for $138M in unpaid bills.
Ascend filed for Chapter 11 on April 9, 2026. On June 4, 2026 the court approved Turner-Kokosing's $31.7 million bid for the Apex 1 plant, over the objection of recycler American Battery Technology Company. CEO Linh Austin, who took the job in 2025, said the company had 'a long history of fiscal and operational mismanagement.' Sector analysts point to a structural mismatch: most recycling feedstock through 2030 is manufacturing scrap, not end-of-life packs, so the capacity wave arrived years before the waste stream.
What has to be true
- The regulatory opening is concrete: the IRA's 45X production credit (final rules Oct 24, 2024) and $418M in DOE grants were designed to make US battery-materials production from recycled input viable.
- The bet was explicit and dated: Ascend built a ~$1B Kentucky plant for 20 kilotons/year of pCAM ahead of the end-of-life battery wave, citing Honda, SK and government money as justification.
- The reversal was regulatory and documented: DOE canceled the $164M CAM grant in Feb 2025 and the remaining ~$316M in Oct 2025, with the company suddenly out over $100M for the project.
- The outcome is terminal: Chapter 11 on April 9, 2026, the plant sold for $31.7M in a June 2026 court auction, and the new CEO publicly blaming years of fiscal and operational mismanagement.
What can be applied
When the subsidy is the business plan, a grant cancellation is a liquidity event: Ascend built billion-dollar capacity ahead of feedstock demand on federal money, with no fallback when it stopped.
Aftermath
As of June 16, 2026, Ascend Elements is in Chapter 11 and its Kentucky plant is sold: on June 4, 2026 the court approved Turner-Kokosing JV's $31.7 million bid for Apex 1, over an objection by recycler American Battery Technology Company; TKJV, the unpaid builder, had sued Ascend for $138 million in April 2025. The fate of the Covington, Georgia lithium-carbonate line — in June 2025 the only recycled lithium-carbonate source in North America — was unresolved. CEO Linh Austin, who took over in 2025, blamed years of mismanagement compounded by canceled federal funding.
Sources
- Battery recycling heats up with Ascend Elements' $542M Series D
- U.S. Department of the Treasury Releases Final Rules to Onshore Clean Energy Technologies, Strengthen Critical Minerals Supply Chains, and Expand U.S. Manufacturing Base
- Trump DOE confirms it's canceling over $700M in manufacturing grants
- Battery recycler Ascend Elements files for bankruptcy
- Contractor Partnership Wins Kentucky Battery Recycling Plant in Chapter 11 Auction
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