Major backing for German battery recycling innovation

German battery recycling start-up Cylib has received EUR 55 million in a new funding round. Investors include Porsche and Bosch Group.

The investment is said to be the largest ever raised by a European battery recycling company. The backing will allow Cylib to advance the industrialisation of its proprietary recycling technology. It will also help scale-up operations at an existing brownfield facility in Aachen, Germany.

Cylib says this is the first time that leaders across automotive, consumer products and public investment industries have combined to support battery recycling.

With Cylib’s process, every component in a lithium-ion battery can be recycled. The company reports a recycling efficiency of over 90%. It claims the water-based lithium and graphite recovery outperforms competitors by 30%. 

Growth journey

The company was founded in 2022 following nearly a decade of research at RWTH Aachen University. The hard work is already paying off and will help strengthen the resilience of European EV supply chain, says Cylib ceo Lilian Schwich.

‘The past year-and-a-half has been a truly remarkable journey of growth. We are immensely grateful for the trust of our partners and the successful projects we have conducted together,’ she adds.

‘The new funding will empower us to embark on our next phase of expansion and deepen existing collaborations, as we grow our next-generation battery recycling at an industrial scale.’

Booming demand

According to the Fraunhofer Institute, the volume of lithium-ion batteries to be recycled in Europe will reach 2.1 million tonnes by 2040. To meet the rising demand for battery materials and to ensure resilient supply chains in Europe, locally available raw materials are seen as instrumental.