Princeton NuEnergy (PNE), a lithium-ion battery recycling company, announced an additional $10.3 million in Series A Funding. Last year, the company also raised $16 million in its Series A funding round, bringing its total funding to over $26 million.
Investors who participated in the round included SCGC, a subsidiary of SCG Group, Tech Council Ventures, and a subsidiary of LKQ Corporation. This additional funding will support the company in constructing an Advanced Black Mass and Cathode Manufacturing Center in the southeastern U.S.
“PNE’s Cathode-to-Cathode technology is reshaping the landscape of critical material reclamation, driving down costs while making a significant impact on the sustainability of battery recycling. This groundbreaking process not only reduces carbon emissions and energy consumption but also establishes a sustainable model for battery recycling,” stated PNE Co-Founder and CEO Dr. Chao Yan.
The company’s technology is a low-temperature plasma-assisted separation process (LPAS), a patented technology that claims to reduce costs, environmental waste, and carbon emissions commonly associated with lithium-ion battery recycling.
In addition to the Series A funding, the company, in 2022, raised $7 million in a seed round led by Wistron Corporation, an electronics manufacturer based in Taiwan, and Shell Ventures. PNE also secured multiple U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grants for battery recycling research, which totaled up to $18 million.
According to Mercom’s Q1 2024 Funding and M&A Report for Storage & Smart Grid, VC funding for Energy Storage companies increased by 9% YoY, with $1.2 billion in 23 deals in Q1 2024 compared to $1.1 billion raised in 19 deals in Q1 2023.
Recently, Li Industries, a battery recycling company, secured $36 million in Series B funding to advance lithium-ion battery recycling solutions. Bosch Ventures, Khosla Ventures, and LG Tech Ventures have co-led the round, with new investments from Formosa Smart Energy Tech Corp., Anglo American Decarbonization Ventures, and Chevron Technology Ventures.
