Blue Li-ion says its battery recycling machines are “the size of a small house”, so it comes as no surprise that the Singapore-based startup needs to raise capital. It had only raised about $15 million prior to the latest round of funding.
This week, Green Li-ion announced $20.5 million”Money Series RED” led by climate technology investor TRIREC. The startup said other investors, including SOSV and Equinor Ventures (the VC arm of the Norwegian-owned fossil fuel giant), also participated.
CEO Leon Farrant told TechCrunch that the deal raised the after-money valuation of Green Li-ion to $187 million in just three years. The startup’s logo is (you guessed it!) a green lion.
The new cash will help the startup scale production of its recycling technology, which it says can process “100% of all used lithium batteries” and create cathode active material precursor that will eventually become the new material. lithium-ion the battery.
Lithium is in high demand and the mining of this metal destroy the environmentmakes recycling technology an important tool in reducing the footprint of things like electric cars and renewable energy storage.
Image credits: Blue Li-ion
Green Li-ion does not recycle the battery itself; it licenses its technology to battery manufacturers and recyclers, including Aleon and TES (owned by SK, the fossil fuel giant based in Korea). Green Li-ion aims to generate 50 recycling units per year through two plants — one in Houston, Texas and one in Singapore.
For that “pre-Series B,” Farrant said the startup has split its Series B into two parts, including an increase announced this week and another for about nine months. “Due to our relatively low funding to date,” added the founder, the startup “needs to draw a clear line and establish a valuation boost for a larger portion of the funding.” move.”
