Ascend Elements
Ascend
Elements’ Cofounder/CTO Eric Gratz,
then a postdoctoral fellow, came to the MSBDC for help with SBIR
funding in 2015. Multiple meetings and proposal preparation helped
the company secure STTR funds by the end of 2015. Over time, the
MSBDC reviewed multiple proposals and venture documents. Nearly
eight years later, the MSBDC SBIR program has assisted with multiple
Phase I and Phase II SBIR/STTR funding, and equity investment
totaling more than $90 million. The relationship with the company
continues to this day.
Ascend Elements is creating the future of sustainable battery manufacturing and recycling. The company was recently awarded Department of Energy grants totaling $480 million to open production facilities in Georgia and Kentucky. Part of this funding was included in President Biden’s recent battery initiative announcement.
"I worked with Dan in applying for our
first ever NSF STTR award, which we received! We are currently
working on phase 1 of the award and plan on using Dan's services
when applying for phase 2. He knows all the 'hangups' that teams
stumble on, working with him to eliminate these is one of the major
reasons I feel that we succeeded." ~ Eric Gratz, Cofounder/CTO
