6K Lands $82M for Batteries and 3D Printing Powders in Series E Round

6K, the Massachusetts-based parent company of 6K Energy and 6K Additive, has secured $82 million in the opening of its Series E round, with the round planned to close out in late fall. The insider-led round saw participation from a variety of venture capital funds concentrated on investing in companies developing sustainable solutions to support the energy transition.

Alongside announcing the big haul that kicked off its Series E round, 6K also issued rather significant news concerning the company’s C-suite and board. First off, 6K’s current COO, Dr. Saurabh Ullal, has taken over the company’s CEO role from Dr. Aaron Bent.

Additionally, 6K has added two new board members: Beda Bolzenius, formerly the CEO of major independent automotive supplier Marelli; and Dr. Jeff Chamberlain, CEO of Volta Energy Technologies, a venture capital spin-out of Argonne National Laboratory. Volta was one of the participants in the first phase of the Series E round.

In a press release, Bill McCullen, 6K’s Chairman of the Board, said, “Thanks to Aaron, 6K is well positioned today as a leader for sustainable, critical material production for lithium-ion batteries and additive manufacturing [AM]. Saurabh’s expertise in technology and operations ensures the company’s scaling strategy while meeting the material specifications and reliability levels customers demand. The $82M raised underscores the confidence investors have in 6K, the UniMelt platform, and the leadership team.”

Dr. Saurabh Ullal, 6K’s new CEO, said, “The new funding enables 6K to scale up our production capabilities for IRA compliant lithium-ion battery cathode active materials [CAM] at our PlusCAM battery material plant in Jackson, TN. This scaling to full production is enabled by our Battery Center of Excellence that has the capacity today to produce up to 1 ton per month of CAM to support multiple customer qualifications.”

Both 6K Energy and 6K Additive have been raking in government money over the last few years, and it’s not difficult to see why: the company has exposure to the industries most vital to the US’s largest generational infrastructure projects, in a business environment where there simply aren’t many other US companies that exist in the same space. Thus, 6K is a safe bet to deliver ROI for funds like Volta Energy Technologies.

Given the personnel changes simultaneous to such a big funding haul, it would seem reasonable to assume that 6K is well in the thick of its transition to the next phase in its growth trajectory. Going forward, as I’ve noted before, it will be interesting to see how the two main sides of the company’s business model cultivate their potential synergies.

It will also be interesting, further, to observe how the US’s overall circular economy develops in relation to 6K’s supply chains. The company is presenting a genuine opportunity to the rest of the American advanced manufacturing landscape to get serious about both reshoring and recycling — and to maximize the compatibility between those two separate but related objectives.

Images courtesy of 6K