Cylib, a German Startup Which Recycles Batteries Raises 55 Million

Recycle every component and material inside a lithium-ion battery. After a decade of research and development, the German startup Cylib, founded in Aachen in 2022, has started to quickly raise capital to finance its climate tech project, which has already been successfully tested in several pilot projects.

The seed round in September 2023 exceeded 11 million euros, but the one recently announced is the largest operation ever recorded in Europe for a strategic sector such as battery recycling: 55 million euros .

Who invests in Cylib

The €55 million Series A round was led by VC World Fund and Porsche Ventures. Investors such as Bosch Ventures, DeepTech & Climate Fonds, NRW.Venture were then added, while entities such as Vsquared Ventures, Speedinvest and 10x Founders followed. As Tech.eu highlighted, this is the first time that two giants such as Porsche and Bosch are present in the same capital injection.

What Cylib does

Despite being founded in 2022, Cylib has a decade of research behind it. The founding team includes CEO Lilian Schwich, one of the most well-known European researchers in the field of battery recycling, CTO Paul Sabarny and COO Gideon Schwich. The process put into practice with efficient machinery is the result of several years of work in the laboratories of RWTH Aachen University.

With the 55 million euros from the Serie A round, the company will bring its production plant to an industrial level, also focusing on expanding the team . Thanks to its technologies it is able to avoid wasting rare earths and precious components of a whole series of batteries, from those of cars to those of scooters.

In a global context where sales of electric cars are increasing and car manufacturers have made the transition their own , gradually abandoning fossil fuels , it is essential that we do not move from one dependence to another. Plants in Europe capable of not wasting these resources will contribute to a shorter supply chain , without damaging the environment, given the impact that the extraction of rare earths has.

Why do we need to recycle electric batteries?

As Cylib itself explained, in 2023 global sales of electric cars rose to 14 million and estimates speak of an increase to 17 million in 2024. According to Fraunhofer ISI, control over the entire supply chain still sees a weak point in recycling of batteries, mostly produced in China.

By 2040, 2.1 million tonnes of lithium ion batteries will be recycled in Europe. If we were to give up promoting similar technologies, we would inevitably be tied to non-European industries, with all that this entails regarding prices and limited bargaining capabilities.

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(Featured image by wir_sind_klein via Pixabay)

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First published in StartupItalia. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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