Sustainable end-to-end battery recycling firm cylib completed its €55 million Series A funding round in equity financing. The funding round, which is the largest round ever raised by a European battery recycling company, was completed less than two years after the company started operations. cylib will utilize the funding to power the industrialization of its proprietary technology, which is already used by leading OEMs and battery manufacturers, by scaling up its operations at an already-secured brownfield industrial facility in Germany.
Co-led by the leading European climate tech VC World Fund and Porsche Ventures (the venture arm of sports car manufacturer Porsche AG), the funding round was joined by Bosch Ventures, DeepTech & Climate Fonds, NRW.Venture, existing investors Vsquared Ventures, Speedinvest, 10x Founders, and established business angels. And cylib’s funding round is the first venture co-investment from industrial giants Porsche and Bosch in Germany.
The funding round marks the first time that major investors from climate and deep tech venture, corporate automotive, and industry backgrounds along with public investment funds have joined together in consortium to support a battery recycling company. cylib was launched in 2022 in Aachen following nearly a decade of research at renowned German technical university RWTH Aachen University by CEO Lilian Schwich – a female founder widely recognized as one of Europe’s leading battery recycling researchers – CTO Paul Sabarny, and COO Dr Gideon Schwich.
cylib also stands out for its remarkably swift path to industrialization. And the company initially raised €11.6 million in seed funding, which enabled delivery of a successful pilot line in September 2023. cylib since completed battery recycling projects for automotive OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and refineries, and is now poised to take its innovative process to an industrial scale and become Europe’s primary battery recycler. The company, which already wields a team of over 60 professionals, will also use funds to make key hires.
And cylib’s proprietary process offers world-leading battery recycling sustainability credentials. Plus, it enables every component in a lithium-ion battery to be recycled, making it the only company on the market to offer clients a way to recover all elements from production scraps, EV or micro mobility batteries. cylib outperforms long-awaited industry break-even points by reaching a recycling efficiency greater than 90% while reducing the environmental footprint (GHG-potential) of the recycling process due to cylib’s water-based Lithium and Graphite recovery by 30% in comparison to competitors.
By offering a locally delivered, end-to-end battery recycling solution, celeb can drastically reduce the carbon footprint of the battery value chain while helping to ensure the resilience of European EV supply chains. The EU has already ranked the materials inside EV batteries as strategic critical raw materials and set its latest stringent battery recycling regulations accordingly. cylib’s market-leading process enables battery producers, automotive OEMs, and all companies operating in the battery value chain to recycle elements locally and overachieve these requirements.
KEY QUOTES:
“The funding round we announced today 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. The past year-and-a-half has been a truly remarkable journey of growth, and we are immensely grateful for the trust of our partners and the successful projects we have conducted together. We look forward to offering our superior technology to even more customers and partners.”
– Lilian Schwich, CEO of cylib
“cylib is a role model for the lightspeed industrialization of world-leading climate tech research coming out of Europe. This company has created a market-leading, highly efficient battery recycling process that offers real climate gains, and which is already delivering for major clients – a huge feat for a business launched not even two years ago. This is the still missing piece of the emerging battery value chain for the decarbonization of mobility and energy.”
– Danijel Višević, General Partner at World Fund
“We at Porsche Ventures are thrilled to co-lead the Series A financing round of cylib together with climate tech VC World Fund. cylib is a perfect example of how leading scientific research can be commercialized at a rapid pace. We are excited to partner with the cylib team to industrialize their innovative end-to-end recycling process with the aim to drive the European Raw Material Ecosystem to become more sustainable and resilient. This fits perfectly to our sustainability ambitions and helps in striving for a decarbonized and circular supply chain.”
– Patrick Huke, Partner and Head of Porsche Ventures
“We have continually been impressed by the cylib team’s tireless determination and sheer execution speed, from before making our initial investment in January 2023 and ever since. We are delighted to be doubling down on supporting them as they expand into a global leader in this space.”
– Dr. Mark Windeknecht, Principal at World Fund
“Thanks to our exceptional team, we have not only launched operations at our Aachen facility in just nine months, we have also improved our research-backed process. This achievement is a testament to the dedication, brilliance and drive of our remarkable team.”
– Paul Sabarny, CTO of cylib
