Pentagon offers battery startup 6K $250M loan to build U.S. factory

The Pentagon is backing a battery factory. Startup 6K won conditional approval for a $250 million loan from the Department of Defense to build a plant in Tennessee to make cathode material using a microwave-powered process, heating metals into a plasma in fewer steps, without relying on Chinese suppliers. The process works across battery types, including lithium iron phosphate. The loan is a second chance for 6K: a $50 million Energy Department grant from 2023 was canceled by the Trump administration, forcing it to reapply and delaying a factory first slated to open in 2024. The Pentagon is building domestic battery capacity because batteries are needed on the battlefield, and defense funding has become a lifeline for U.S. battery startups. Source: TechCrunch, November 6, 2026.

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