# 6K

> 6K is a North Andover, Massachusetts advanced materials company that uses its proprietary UniMelt microwave plasma technology - which reaches roughly 6,000 degrees, hence the name - to produce battery cathode materials and additive-manufacturing metal powders faster, cleaner, and with fewer processing steps than conventional methods. Spun out of research at MIT and the University of Connecticut, the company operates through two divisions, 6K Energy (battery cathode active materials) and 6K Additive (sustainably sourced metal powders), and is building a domestic U.S. supply chain for critical materials backed by federal grants and more than $348 million in venture funding.

- **Founded:** 2014
- **Headquarters:** North Andover, Massachusetts, United States
- **Founders:** Kamal Hadidi (Founder (as Amastan Technologies; renamed 6K in 2019))
- **Team size:** ~210 employees
- **Products:** UniMelt Microwave Plasma Platform, 6K Energy - Battery Cathode Active Materials (CAM), 6K Additive - Metal Powders, PlusCAM Production Plant
- **Notable:** Named to Fast Company's Annual List of the World's Most Innovative Companies of 2024, Commissioned the first two commercial UniMelt microwave plasma systems for additive-manufacturing powder production (2020), Launched what it called the world's first premium AM metal powders derived from sustainable/reclaimed sources (2019)

## Products & services

- **UniMelt Microwave Plasma Platform** — Proprietary uniform-melt-state microwave plasma technology that operates at roughly 6,000 degrees, melting or vaporizing feedstock into precisely sized, high-purity particles in under two seconds - eliminating multiple high-energy steps of conventional production.
- **6K Energy - Battery Cathode Active Materials (CAM)** — Low-cost, sustainable, domestically produced cathode active materials including NMC and LFP chemistries for EV and energy-storage batteries, produced with lower energy use and carbon emissions than traditional suppliers.
- **6K Additive - Metal Powders** — Sustainably sourced additive-manufacturing metal powders (titanium, nickel, refractory metals) produced and reclaimed from scrap and used feedstock via a proprietary milling, cleaning, and plasma spheroidization process.
- **PlusCAM Production Plant** — 160,000 sq ft battery-materials plant in Jackson, Tennessee with planned capacity around 13,000 tonnes/year of multiple cathode active materials, producing no hazardous liquid or solid waste.

## Achievements

- Named to Fast Company's Annual List of the World's Most Innovative Companies of 2024
- Commissioned the first two commercial UniMelt microwave plasma systems for additive-manufacturing powder production (2020)
- Launched what it called the world's first premium AM metal powders derived from sustainable/reclaimed sources (2019)
- Awarded a $50M DOE grant and broke ground on the $250M PlusCAM battery-materials plant in Jackson, TN
- Closed $82M Series E in 2024 to scale battery CAM and additive powder production
- Featured by MIT News (2025) for cleaning up critical-minerals production using microwave plasma

## Latest updates

- **2025-02** — MIT News profiled 6K for using microwave plasma to clean up critical-minerals and materials production.
- **2024-09** — Closed $82M first close of Series E and named Dr. Saurabh Ullal CEO, succeeding Dr. Aaron Bent.
- **2024-03** — Named to Fast Company's World's Most Innovative Companies list for 2024.
- **2024-01** — Executed the agreement for the $50M DOE grant for the PlusCAM battery-material plant in Jackson, TN.
- **2023-04** — Tennessee announced 6K Energy would build its PlusCAM battery-material manufacturing plant in Jackson, a ~$250M project expected to create 230 jobs.

## Links

- Website: https://6kinc.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/6kinc/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/6kinc
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrbehtjiy2-W_d70CzX6sHA

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/6k
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-22