German battery recycling startup Cylib raises €55 million to build recycling plant

Cylib which started as late as 2022 has raised its second round of funds in a Series A round of €55M, lead by the venture capital companies World Fund and Porsche Ventures. The funds will be used to scale the company's operation at an already-secured brownfield industrial facility in Germany.  

Other investors participating in the round were Bosch Ventures, DeepTech & Climate Fonds, NRW.Venture, existing investors Vsquared Ventures, Speedinvest, 10x Founders and established business angels. 

Cylib has developed a method based on thermal deactivation and removal organics, followed by a water- and CO2-based recovery of lithium and graphite leaving the remaining materials to be separated through conventional hydrometallurgical treatment. Through its recovery of graphite the company claim it can achieve a recycling efficiency of more than 90%. The process has been developed over the years at RWTH Aachen University within an experienced research team of which several now are leading Cylib.

The company initially raised €11.6m in seed funding, which enabled delivery of a successful pilot line in September 2023. Cylib has since completed battery recycling projects for automotive OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and refineries. The plan is now to obtain industrial scale and become a leading battery recycling in Europe. The company, which already wields a team of over 60 professionals, will also use funds to make further key hires.