tozero, a lithium-ion battery recycling company, has raised €11 million (~$12 million) in an oversubscribed seed funding round led by NordicNinja.
New investors, including In-Q-Tel (IQT), automobile company Honda, and global infrastructure engineering company JGC Group joined this round. Existing investors, including Atlantic Labs, Verve Ventures, and Possible Ventures, also participated in the seed funding.
The funding will be used to build its first industrial deployment plant to boost the production of recycled lithium and expand the team to support its future activities.
Sarah Fleischer, Co-founder and CEO of tozero, said: “Despite our limited resources as a two-year-old startup, we’ve already made human history by being the first to ever deliver recycled lithium for end products in Europe, while our competitors are still lingering on the topic for many years. I’m excited to see what our rockstar team will achieve next— we’re establishing our FOAK plant now, but there is so much more we will be able to achieve in the future. We need a global solution tomorrow, as every moment counts as we fight the climate crisis. Together, let’s truly bring lithium-ion battery waste to zero!”
According to the company, its proprietary hydrometallurgy process for recycling is more efficient than the traditional high-temperature smelting methods and can also deliver recovered lithium to customers while cutting emissions by an estimated 70% compared to conventional lithium mining.
According to Mercom’s 9M and Q3 2024 Funding and M&A report for Energy Storage and Smart Grid, venture capital funding for Energy Storage companies in 9M 2024 came to $2.7 billion in 61 deals, a 69% decrease year-over-year compared to $8.6 billion in 68 deals in 9M 2023.
In May, Cylib, a Germany-based battery recycling startup, secured €55 million (~$59.79 million) in a Series A funding round co-led by World Fund and Porsche Ventures. The round was joined by Bosch Ventures, DeepTech & Climate Fonds, NRW.Venture, existing investors Vsquared Ventures, Speedinvest, 10x Founders, and established business angels.
