Luxembourg-based battery upcycling startup Circu Li-ion raised €4.5m in equity funding, led by BonVenture, and secured an additional €4m through European innovation grants and industry collaborators. The funds will support the cleantech’s expansion, automation, and AI development plans.
Circu Li-ion has been making waves with its innovative battery upcycling startup since its inception in 2021. In the past 12 months alone, the cleantech was crowned Creative Young Entrepreneurs of Luxembourg and was selected to represent Luxembourg at the Startup World Cup in San Francisco.
To cap it all off, the startup has just raised €8.5m in Seed funding, €4.5m of which is in equity. The round was led by BonVenture with additional backing from an undisclosed group of battery, AI, and industry experts as well as significant participation of the company’s backing team. The remaining €4m was raised in grants from the European Innovation Council Accelerator and collaborations with recyclers and OEMs.
“We’re happy to double down on our development speed, turning this fresh funding into smarter, data-focused solutions that make battery recycling economically and ecologically viable for everyone,” said Antoine Welter, CEO and co-founder at Circu Li-ion.
To support these goals, the team aims to double its size of 34 colleagues within the next year, with a focus on data scientists and AI hires.
A circular battery economy
A range of strategic partners have already signed up to join Circu Li-ion’s mission to bring urban mining to life through its automated battery upcycling platform. These include OEMs from various industries such as EV, micro-mobility as well as leading European recyclers, all of which support the startup’s goal of facilitating a circular battery economy in Europe.
“We are evolving our products with the agility and adaptability the swift-moving battery market demands. It’s more than creating relevancy – it’s about pioneering flexible solutions that carve out new possibilities for cleaner battery recycling.”
Xavier Kohll, CTO and co-founder at Circu Li-ion
Upcycling 3 billion batteries
Next to supporting the company’s goal of upcycling 3 billion batteries by 2035, the funding will enable the startup to enhance its Machine-as-a-Service platform and roll it out in more European markets as well as support clients in upcycling batteries on demand at its Circu Li-ion’s certified facility in Germany.
Furthermore, the funds will enable the cleantech to continue its work of building the world’s largest battery recycling data repository, expand its collaborations with EV OEMs and recyclers and unlock new capabilities in the battery recycling value chain. The latter will build on AI developments to elevate battery sorting capabilities and ensure maximal recovery of valuable materials.
Last but not least, the capital will support the expansion of its main facility in Karlsruhe to 2,000m2 as well as growing its Berlin satellite office.
