Green Li-ion says its battery recycling machines are the “size of a tiny house,” so it’s no wonder the Singapore-based startup had to shell out cash. It had only raised about $15 million prior to its latest cash injection.
This week, Green Li-ion announced a $20.5 million award”pre series Bround led by investor in climate technology TRIREC. The startup said other investors, including SOSV and Equinor Ventures (the VC arm of the Norwegian fossil fuel giant), also joined in.
The deal boosts Green Li-ion’s valuation to $187 million after just three years, CEO Leon Farrant told businesskinda.com. The startup’s logo is (you guessed it!) a green lion.
The new money will help start-up scale production of its recycling technology, which the company says can process “100% of all spent lithium batteries” and extract precursor cathode active material that will eventually be used in new lithium ion batteries.
Lithium is in high demand and the metal is mined harms the environmentmaking recycling technology a critical tool in reducing the footprint of things like electric cars and renewable energy storage.
Image Credits: Green Li-ion
Green Li-ion itself does not recycle batteries; it licenses its technology to battery manufacturers and recyclers, including Aleon and TES (owned by SK, the South Korean fossil fuel giant). Green Li-ion aims to produce 50 recycling units per year through two plants – one in Houston, Texas and another in Singapore.
As for that “pre-Series B,” Farrant said the startup has split its Series B into two parts, which includes the raise announced this week and another in about nine months. “Due to our relatively low levels of fundraising to date,” the founder added, the startup had to “draw a line in the sand and set a valuation markup for most of the raise.”
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