• Ascend Elements

  Participated · Equity · Sep 2023

  Ascend Elements commercializes an ultra‑efficient Hydro‑to‑Cathode process to produce sustainable pCAM and CAM from black mass recovered from recycled lithium‑ion batteries. The company is building Apex 1, a 1‑million‑square‑foot facility in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, slated to open in early 2025, which is expected to produce materials sufficient for up to 750,000 electric vehicles per year. Ascend’s process eliminates intermediary steps in traditional cathode manufacturing, yielding economic and carbon‑reduction benefits, and peer‑reviewed studies show recycled materials perform comparably to those from mined sources. The Apex 1 project is partly supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Financially, Ascend announced $162 million in new equity financing as part of a Series D, bringing its 12‑month funding total to $704 million following a $542 million round in September 2023. Goldman Sachs served as sole placement agent for the Series D round. Ascend Elements develops sustainable, closed-loop lithium-ion battery materials, including recycled battery feedstock, precursor cathode active material (pCAM) and cathode active materials (CAM). Its proprietary Hydro-to-Cathode® direct precursor synthesis technology produces new pCAM from spent lithium-ion cells, aiming to reduce cost, improve performance, and lower GHG emissions. The company has signed commercial-scale supply contracts (including a $1 billion pCAM contract starting Q4 2024 with options up to $5 billion) and is building its Apex 1 facility in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Apex 1 is planned as a 1-million-square-foot plant on a 140-acre site, targeting enough sustainable pCAM for 750,000 electric vehicles per year when complete. Ascend has also secured two U.S. Department of Energy grants totaling $480 million under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Led by CEO Mike O’Kronley, the company is scaling from EV battery recycling through commercial pCAM and CAM production. Ascend Elements develops engineered materials and lithium-ion battery recycling processes, including commercial-scale production of lithium-ion battery precursor (pCAM) and cathode active materials (CAM). Its proprietary Hydro-to-Cathode direct precursor synthesis technology produces new CAM from spent lithium-ion cells, aiming to reduce cost, improve performance, and lower GHG emissions. The company intends to accelerate commercialization of that process and scale production to serve EV supply chains. Ascend has disclosed plans to invest up to $1 billion to build the Apex 1 facility in Hopkinsville, Ky., which is expected to produce enough pCAM and CAM to equip up to 250,000 electric vehicles per year. Financially, the company recently raised $300 million in equity and debt (including $200 million in Series C equity) and has two Department of Energy grants totaling $480 million. Led by CEO Mike O’Kronley, Ascend positions itself as a provider of sustainable, closed-loop battery materials solutions from EV battery recycling to commercial-scale cathode manufacturing. Ascend Elements develops Hydro-to-Cathode™ direct precursor synthesis technology to produce cathode active materials from spent lithium-ion cells. The process is presented as more efficient than traditional methods, offering reduced cost, improved performance, and lowered greenhouse gas emissions. The company is led by CEO Mike O’Kronley and is based in Westborough, MA. Ascend plans significant manufacturing and recycling capacity expansions, including a multi‑phase investment of up to $1 billion to build a facility called “Apex 1” in Hopkinsville, Ky. Apex 1 is expected to produce enough precursor and sustainable cathode active material to equip up to 250,000 electric vehicles per year. Ascend is also opening a battery recycling facility, “Base 1,” in Covington, Ga, which when fully operational in Q4 2022 will recycle more than 30,000 metric tons of used batteries and manufacturing scrap per year.

• TreaTech

  Participated · Series A · Jun 2023

  TreaTech develops and commercializes a patented hydrothermal gasification (HTG) technology that converts waste streams typically incinerated into useful products such as fresh water, minerals (phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium) and methane-rich renewable gas. The company positions its HTG process as a sustainable, cost-efficient solution for on-site energy and materials recovery. TreaTech plans to use new funds to further develop its technology, extend its product offering to more clients, and raise awareness of circular waste treatment. The company is led by CEO Frédéric Juillard and is based in Lonay, Switzerland. Financially, TreaTech announced a CHF9M Series A and reports CHF15M in total funding raised since inception. Prior support and seed funding came from PMEP, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, the Swiss Federal Office of Environment, Fondation pour le Climat, Gebert Rüf Stiftung, Bridge SNF, Innosuisse and others.

• Mistral AI

  Participated · Seed · Jun 2023

  Mistral AI develops AI models and is expanding into infrastructure by building large-scale data centers for training and running advanced models. The company is constructing a facility in Bruyères-le-Châtel near Paris slated to be operational in Q2 2026 and has announced a second planned site in Sweden. Mistral aims to assemble a European compute network targeting 200 MW of capacity by the end of 2027. It will purchase roughly 13,800 advanced Nvidia chips with the recent financing. The company also supplies AI models and solutions to the French armed forces, positioning itself beyond pure model development into infrastructure and defense-related work. Financially, Mistral recently secured a €750M+ loan from a seven-bank consortium, its first significant borrowing from debt markets.

No current team members are available.