The Electric

The Electric: Failing to Score Big Sales in the West, U.S. Battery Startups Are Going to China

Chinese battery giant CATL's aggressive price cuts have forced U.S. startups to seek manufacturing partnerships in China. Photo: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg/Getty
By
Steve LeVine

In the U.S. battery industry’s go-go days in 2021, Sepion Technologies raised an $18.7 million Series A round, sufficient capital to build a pilot manufacturing line and ship sample cells that seemed to garner a promising reception from multiple potential customers.