Cleaner Tech
Battery Recycler Ascend Elements Files for Bankruptcy
The climate tech company boomed during the Biden years but has struggled amid a drop in EV interest.
A view of Ascend Elements EV battery recycling facility in Covington, Georgia.
Photo courtesy of Ascend Elements
Battery recycling startup Ascend Elements filed for bankruptcy on Thursday, according to the company.
Massachusetts-based Ascend, which specializes in reprocessing old batteries into cathode material at a factory in Georgia, has raised more than $1.1 billion in equity and grants since its founding in 2015. But “the financial difficulties were insurmountable,” and the company has voluntarily initiated a Chapter 11 process, Chief Executive Officer Linh Austin said in a statement.