Recycling technology startup Green Li-ion receives $11.55M in series A funding

The Singapore-based recycling technology startup Green Li-ion has received $11.55M in funding to commercialize its hydrometallurgical technology in a so called Series A venture capital funding round. The round was led by Energy Revolution Ventures Ltd and included other VC companies in Europe, USA and Asia such as EDP Ventures, TRIREC, SOSV, Entrepreneur First, MB Energy Partners, Ilshin Holdings, Envisioning Partners, and GS Holdings.

With the funds, which follows a previous seed round with investments from the recycling companies TES and Linico, Green Li-ion aims to demonstrate its technology which essentially is process for leaching and co-precipitation or lithium and transition metals, which produces a NMC hydroxide. A first system is being built in Texas, US to be shipped to the company's first customer and investor Linico in Nevada.

According to the company the funds will also be used for expansion in Europe and for further research and development. The company aims to launch a process for LFP recycling and will also market a system for production of sulfates.

The system is modular and the company has a business model which is partly volume-based.

Green-Lion's first customer, the Nevada-based recycling company Linico is listed in our CES's data base of recyclers but with a remark on its ability to scale. The company today owns 20.22% of Green Li-ion. Linico itself is owned by the OTC-listed Comstock Mining (90%) and Aqua Metals (10%). Aqua Metals, which sold part of its facility to Linico also claims to develop a lithium-ion recycling company and so is Linico's former CEO which today owns Evolve Renewable Materials with ambition to recycle lithium-ion batteries. Linico has announced plans to set up a recycling facility in Nevada with a capacity of 33,000 tonnes per year. Green Li-ion's technology has previously been described by Linico as key technology for this but since a couple of months it is not mentioned. The company also lack staff and a formal CEO.